To: The Texas State House, The Texas State Senate, and Governor Greg Abbott
Make Education Priority #1 in Texas
Every child deserves a quality education. There is an old cliche that says, "you get what you pay for." Apparently since the state of Texas pays so little to fund public education our state leaders must not think of education as a top priority. This must change!
According to the non-profit advocacy group, Children At Risk, the state of Texas only spends an average of $8,908 per student in the latest budget. The national average is $11,463 per student.
The $4.0 billion cut from the education budget by our state legislature in 2011 has resulted in many school districts within our state cutting vital teaching and support staff positions. These budget cuts also make it impossible to pay quality teachers their true worth. Because of low starting salaries, it has become increasingly difficult to recruit high quality personnel in our state's school districts. This is especially true in our large urban districts. More importantly, the budget cuts severely limit the resources available to educate our children and prepare them to flourish in the global economy. Our children are the future leaders of our great state. Our children deserve high quality, innovative, technologically advanced public schools. Investing in the education of our children is an investment that will reap long term dividends.
We call upon our state leaders to utilize the Rainy Day Fund in order to properly fund the educational needs of the children in our great state. We also implore our state leaders to implement innovative funding methods in order to better raise adequate revenue to fund the education budget.
According to the non-profit advocacy group, Children At Risk, the state of Texas only spends an average of $8,908 per student in the latest budget. The national average is $11,463 per student.
The $4.0 billion cut from the education budget by our state legislature in 2011 has resulted in many school districts within our state cutting vital teaching and support staff positions. These budget cuts also make it impossible to pay quality teachers their true worth. Because of low starting salaries, it has become increasingly difficult to recruit high quality personnel in our state's school districts. This is especially true in our large urban districts. More importantly, the budget cuts severely limit the resources available to educate our children and prepare them to flourish in the global economy. Our children are the future leaders of our great state. Our children deserve high quality, innovative, technologically advanced public schools. Investing in the education of our children is an investment that will reap long term dividends.
We call upon our state leaders to utilize the Rainy Day Fund in order to properly fund the educational needs of the children in our great state. We also implore our state leaders to implement innovative funding methods in order to better raise adequate revenue to fund the education budget.
Why is this important?
The purpose of this petition is to address the education budget cuts implemented by the Texas State Senate, House of Representatives and Governor Rick Perry. Texas already ranks near the bottom of every educational statistical category. These budget cuts further cripple our children's chances of being competitive in the emerging global economy. How will Texas remain competitive if we don't properly educate our future leaders? We call on our state leaders to correct these heinous budget cuts.