Texas is in a race to the bottom. We are last among the 50 states in overall per capita spending, and we are at or near the bottom among the states in per capita spending on public education. The consequences to our economy and the futures of our children are devastating. The jobs of 32,000 public school employees, many of them teachers, have already been eliminated. An even greater number of jobs in public education will be eliminated in the spring and summer of 2012 due to deeper spending cuts ordered by the Legislature. The Texas unemployment rate of 8.4% is the highest since 1987, teacher morale has plummeted, class sizes have increased, and the dropout rate is certain to rise. The costs we incur from this misguided policy of public education cuts far outweigh the budgetary savings and will steadily increase with the passage of time.
Polls taken by organizations across the political spectrum reflect overwhelming public opposition among Texas voters to the Legislature’s $5.4B in cuts to public education funding. Clearly there is a serious disconnect between the policies favored by Texas voters and those adopted by the Legislature. There are several reasons why many members of the Legislature have ignored their constituents’ opinions on this issue:
Voter Apathy: Texas was last in the nation in voter turnout in 2010, with only 32% of registered voters casting ballots. From 2008 to 2010 statewide voter turnout declined by 3 million voters, from 8 million to 5 million.
The Economic and Ideological Power of Anti-Education Forces: Although polls reflect only 4% support for the Legislature’s education cuts, the influence of this tiny minority goes far beyond their numbers. They are well funded and well organized, and they are ideologically aligned with many Republican members of the Texas House.
Voters’ Lack of Knowledge about the Texas Budget Crisis: Texas voters don’t understand that the current Texas budget crisis was caused by a disastrous “tax swap” in 2006 that has caused an escalating permanent hole in our state budget, which now stands at $10B. They are also unaware that Texas currently has 227 state tax preferences and loopholes, many of them for special interests, which amount to $66B. They don’t realize that the Legislature is directly responsible for Texas exorbitant property taxes, which currently rank 11th nationally, because our elected representatives haven’t provided enough state aid to Texas public schools for the past 10 years. During this period, Texas has fallen from its former ranking of 25th nationally in per capita funding for public education to its current dismal ranking.
Clearly, Texas must eliminate tax loopholes and develop reliable funding sources in order to save public education. The harvest from educational investments requires decades to produce but only years to destroy. What businesses or individuals will want to move to a state that doesn’t care about public education, its foundation for the future?
Recent polls have consistently shown that public education funding is the most important issue for Texas voters in the 2012 elections. However, anti-education candidates will work to avoid talking about education and focus on other issues. Therefore, it is vital that a voter education campaign begin immediately to make adequate education funding
the overriding priority in order to elect a new pro-education legislature in 2012. History has repeatedly shown that informed voters are far more likely to vote than voters who are uninformed about the candidates and the issues. To save public education in Texas, our public schools must receive adequate funding, which can only be appropriated by the Legislature.
We must elect a new legislature to save public education in Texas.
The Take Back Texas Alliance, a nonprofit, nonpartisan organization, is uniquely dedicated to developing and implementing such a campaign to tell Texas voters the truth about the root causes of the Texas education funding crisis and how to resolve it. To our knowledge, we are the only organization engaged in such an effort. Our professionally designed voter education campaign by Swash Labs will employ a blend of digital and radio messages and will utilize digital technology to determine which communications are most effective. We will not only educate Texas voters about the issues, we will also enable them to discern which candidates truly support public education and which ones do not. While our task is challenging, we have both the medium and the message to succeed. What we do need is your financial support to help us meet our goal of raising $660,000 for this effort.
The millions that will be spent on political campaigns during this election cycle go far beyond our financial requirements. The money we spend will be to inform and educate, not to engage in political propaganda. With your support we will help the people of Texas take back our government so that its decisions will reflect the will of the people on the most important issue for our future, public education.
*** EXCELLENCE IN PUBLIC EDUCATION – A TEXAS VALUE SINCE 1836 ***