Texas Education is on the edge of a great disaster. As I learned in last week’s readings, the governor has the power to create a proposal for the state budget to send to the legislature for approval. Well now Governor Perry has sent his budget proposal to the Legislature and proposed to cut more than $2 billion in state spending on public education and another $2 billion in higher education. Those cuts would come with bigger reductions in federal dollars. I believe the government is working against itself.
Texas Comptroller Carole Keeton Strayhorn set 10 principles for Texas when she took office in 1999. There are three principles she created that were to enhance Texas public education. Strayhorn asserted that Texas develop a better-educated work force, direct more of every education dollar into the classroom, and raise the bar on student performance. She wanted Texas to have the most educated work force in the nation. Well now Texas is firing teachers, which makes it harder for students to learn their basics, increasing tuition, which is making it harder for students to gain a higher education, and lowering government aid. Everything that Strayhorn proposed 12 years ago is now being undone.
How does the government expect to run a state when laws and provisions they create do not work toward the enhancement of the majority of the state? Instead, the government is weakening the economy by over-spending and then trying to fill the deficit with a quick fix, cutting education spending. In all, the government is doing more of a disservice for our economy and our education. Hopefully these budget cuts will not be too drastic when it comes to students maintaining a solid education.
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