- (1) Everyone has the right to education. Education shall be free, at least in the elementary and fundamental stages. Elementary education shall be compulsory. Technical and professional education shall be made generally available and higher education shall be equally accessible to all on the basis of merit.
- (2) Education shall be directed to the full development of the human personality and to the strengthening of respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms. It shall promote understanding, tolerance and friendship among all nations, racial or religious groups, and shall further the activities of the United Nations for the maintenance of peace.
- (3) Parents have a prior right to choose the kind of education that shall be given to their children.
With the current budget crisis that the state is in, over $4 billion is being cut from the education budget resulting in thousands of job losses. In Austin ISD 800 teaching contracts will not be renewed for the 2011-2012 academic year. Less teachers does not mean less students; class sizes will expand and schools that are currently working at capacity will be forced to find room for students that were attending schools that were closed. Its important that legislators and superintendents remember that each of those numbers represents a child that has a future of their own and cutting costs to fit within a budget is severely jeopardizing their potential.
On April 1, 2011 House Bill 275 was passed in the Texas House of Representatives. This bill provides $3.1 billion from the Rainy Day Fund and $300 million sales tax revenue to help alleviate the stress of the budget deficit. Unfortunately, this only softens the blow to our education system. Cuts will still be made and children's education will still suffer.
Appropriations Committee member Mike Villarreal, a Democrat, said that without using the rainy day fund for 2012-2013, the state budget will lead to closing nursing homes, firing teachers and packing more children into classrooms. "The governor doesn't mind using the fund to avoid the embarrassment of not paying our bills for the next five months, but he refuses to use a single dime from the fund to limit the damage to our children's schools," Villarreal said.
F. Scott McCown, contributor to the Austin Statesman is appalled by the state's efforts to reduce spending by cutting education. "Governor Perry has things backwards. Texans aren't supposed to protect the Rainy Day Fund. The Rainy Day Fund is supposed to protect Texans," McCown said. "Voters created the Rainy Day Fund by constitutional amendment in 1988 to offset unforeseen falls in state revenue just like the state faces in 2012-13. The Legislature and Governor should use the Rainy Day Fund to bridge the revenue hole created by the Great Recession."
If the state determines a way to continue funding education at its current levels it still isn't providing an adequate education for our children. A comparison by the National Education Association shows Texas spent an average of $9,227 per student in the 2009-10 school year, placing it $1,359 below the national average. This figure puts Texas in 37th place for school funding, compared to other states and the District of Columbia. It also represents a significant slip from ten years ago, when Texas ranked 25th in the U.S. and was only $281 below the national average in per-pupil spending. In other rankings for recent years, Texas has placed as low as 43rd or, with the inclusion of capital costs, as high as 36th. But by any measure, we’re well behind the majority of U.S. states in per-student funding.
Texas Education Agency submitted a legislative brief to the legislature on December 1, 2010 evaluating the college readiness of Texas public schools and proposes the Success Strategic Action Plan. To look at the results that TEA found, check out Legislative Progress Report on P-16 College Readiness and Success Plan
Texas Public Policy Foundation (TPPF) is a think tank that focuses on areas in Texas state policies. In March 2001 they published "Budget Solution$: Closing Texas' Budget Shortfall" and included a section on how they proposed the state should cut education to fit the budget needs with having as little impact on the students as possible. Some proposals included reducing funds to Texas Education Agency ($6.6 billion), eliminating Regional Education Service Centers ($42.75 million), eliminating pre-kindergarten programs ($208.6 million), reducing contribution to teachers' pension to the minimum 6 percent ($200 million) and reductions to higher education ($2.03 billion).
The largest cut that the TPPF proposes is the way we pay our teachers. They suggest that we remove the teacher salary schedule and restrictions on hiring and firing teachers. Currently, teachers are rewarded increased salaries based on the amount of time they have been teaching regardless of performance. Also the process of removing an ineffective teacher is almost impossible. By removing these regulations, TPPF suggests that teachers will be rewarded for performance and this will allow for fewer, more qualified, and better paid teachers. Class sizes would increase from 22:1 to 25:1 which they believe will not negatively impact education quality in the classroom. This plan will cut the fat of ineffective teachers from our schools while improving teacher performance.
I disagree with this plan. While I do believe that higher performing teachers should be rewarded for their efforts, I do not believe that increasing classroom sizes is a valid option. Also how will the state determine "effective" teachers? More testing of our students? Students' performance on a standardized test is not solely indicative of a teachers' worth. Standardizing this process would be a disaster and harm our students' education instead of improving it.
Read more!
Texas Public Policy Foundation's Budget Solution:
http://www.texaspolicy.com/pdf/2011-BudgetSolutions-ArticleIII-Education.pdf
Huffington Post, use of the Rainy Day Fund:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/03/15/rick-perry-rainy-day-fund_n_836339.html
Save Texas Schools campaign, comparing Texas public education system to other states': http://savetxschools.org/2011/02/how-we-stack-up/
The Statesman, how cutting education hurts students:
http://www.statesman.com/opinion/mccown-texas-shouldnt-reduce-spending-at-the-expense-1353445.html
UN Declaration of Human Rights:
http://www.un.org/en/documents/udhr/index.shtml
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