The Effect of Education on Texas

642 Words2 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: Texas education policies within the last decade

So many times you hear an adolescent say, “I have to drop out of high school to help pay the bills.” The sad part about this is that most adolescence never return to complete their education with a GED or go on to a secondary school. Per Politics Today, Weatherford College’s Texas Government book, Texas ranked 41st of 50 in the United State of high school graduates. As of 2005 U.S. Census data, Texas was rated 45th of 50 in high school graduates. These students, which end up not completing a high school degree or secondary school, do not understand that their education has an effect on Texas socially, economically, and politically.
Tax revenues are the start of how resident’s, of Texas, education has an effect. With an increase number of less-educated laborers the reduced the average income of Texans becomes. This means that residents begin working at minimum wage paying jobs like McDonalds, Sonic, and Chicken Express because they do not have the education nor work skills to be hired at a job that pays more than minimum wage. Nor do these places of employment expect to pay more for an employee who cannot benefit their company. Empirical studies show that low education levels are associated with lower income levels; therefore, failure to complete high school or college negatively impacts average earnings.
According to the Texas State Data Center, by 2040 approximately 30.1% of the labor force will not have a high school diploma. That would be an 18.8% increase from 2000. If this predicted percentage occurs, a higher share of Texas’ workforce would be less educated and low skilled, making Texas’ economy less competitive. But why should we care about being less competitive? Because being competitive allows our state to maintain low...

... middle of paper ...

...ion Projections and Implications." The Changing Face of Texas. N.p.: Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas, 2005. 37-44. Print.

PolitiFact. "Democrats Say Texas Graduation Rate Fell to 50th under Rick Perry." The Truth-O-Meter Says:. Tampa Bay Times PolitiFact.com, 8 Sept. 2011. Web. 22 Jan. 2014. .

Texas Politics. "5.3 Education." Texas Politics - Political Economy. Liberal Arts Instructional Technology Services, 22 Jan. 2014. Web. 22 Jan. 2014. .
Based on U.S. Census data compiled by the Rockefeller Institute of Government, Gateway to States and Local Information, link: "States Ranked by Total Elementary and Secondary Educational Expenditures in Fiscal Year 2000","(accessed on 9/23/2003)." "The Impact of the State Higher Education System on the Texas Economy," Texas Comptroller of Public Accounts, January 2003.

Show More
Related

  • Three Branches of the Texas Government

    1619 Words  | 4 Pages

    University of Texas at Austin. Texas Politics, The legislative Branch. Austin, 2nd Edition-Revision 94 2009, Liberal Arts Instructional Technology Services.

    Read More

  • The Changing Demographics of Texas

    1420 Words  | 3 Pages

    Vespa, Matt. "Changing Demographics Threaten Republican Texas." 13 November 2012. Red State.com. Web. 22 March 2014.

    Read More

  • Change in the Political Climate of Texas

    1503 Words  | 4 Pages

    In the youth of Texas, the Democratic Party enjoyed electoral dominance on all levels of state government and in the representation in the national government. Democratic rule was dominated by a conservative white political elite that strongly promoted economic development, but that resisted change either in race relations or social programs for the poor ("Texas Politics," 2009). Republicans were not completely absent during this period, but their electoral victories were few and limited in scope ("Texas Politics," 2009). In every election after 1980, however, the Republican strength grew into the now dominant rule that currently reigns in Texas. Since the 1990’s, the Republican Party, despite the attempts of others, has had a stronghold on the state government. With that being said, the Republican Party has dominated the overall elections.

    Read More

  • Education Policy in Michigan

    2280 Words  | 5 Pages

    An outdated education system is the largest problem Michigan faces because it affects not only the present, but also the future of the state. Important issues cannot be solved, nor policies created to remedy them, if the people attempting to solve them are not equipped with the skills and knowledge needed to make informed decisions. The state cannot run itself, let alone the nation as a whole, if its’ people are uneducated. The Constitution, the very basis of our government, relies heavily on the assumption that citizens of the United States are able to make knowledgeable and well-reasoned decisions, the types of which cannot be made when a person does not receive a proper education. This proper education is unattainable when low educational funding occurs. Lowering educational funding leads to lower standardized test scores, lack of resources, and an overall poorer education (Roy 2003). Even with these results educational funding has consistently been put upon the chopping block at all levels of government. Governor Rick Snyder’s budget cuts $470 per pupil for the 2012 fiscal year, while promising only small incentives to be added when re-balancing the budget in 2013 (Resmovits 2012). Snyder’s cuts in education stand in sharp contrast to the budget and policy passed in 1994, by then Governor John Engler. Engler, along with the House and Senate, created Proposal A. This policy increased funding to all levels of education, reduced the large funding gap between poorer and richer school districts, and opened schools of choice. Proposal A was largely effective in its’ objectives, but was unable to maintain the projected budget needed to maintain efficiency due to the recession, and Michigan laws requiring education cuts when school ...

    Read More

  • Should Austin or Houston Be the Capital of Texas?

    1714 Words  | 4 Pages

    Gibson, Jr, L. T., & Robison, C. Government and politics in the lone star state. (eighth ed.). Pearson.

    Read More

  • Texas Government

    1011 Words  | 3 Pages

    The government of the state of Texas is a difficult and complicated institution that is composed of many different levels. The question comes in to everyone's mind at one time or another whether or not to trust the government. It could be that people believe that the officials will take advantage of their power, or simply people don't like the idea of being controlled by someone who is not a family member or friend. To avoid this centralized power, the government is divided into stages and this is a reasonable ground for trusting the government. Government runs this state and it does deserve to be trusted.

    Read More

  • The Funding Of Public Education

    1582 Words  | 4 Pages

    The funding of public education has long been an issue for the state government of Texas. Starting before Texas was even a state, public education funding was at the forefront of politicians’ minds. In 1836, one of the reasons Anglo-Texans wanted to become independent from Mexico was Mexico’s lack of a public school system (An Overview of the History of Public Education in Texas, 2016). This drove the desire of President Mirabeau B. Lamar of the Republic of Texas to create legislation that would grant public schools land (A Brief History of Public Education, n.d.). This act set aside four leagues of land per county for the use of free education centers and thus began the funding of public education by the state government (An Overview of the History of Public Education in Texas, 2016). In the last 177 years, the Texas Legislature and the Texas Education Agency have created numerous acts and laws regarding the funding of education, but it has been in the last 50 years that this topic has become highly contested, resulting in several lawsuits and endless efforts (by the school districts) to equalize the distribution of funds to Texas school districts (Texas School Finance History, n.d.). In sum, the complex issues and policies that surround the funding of public education are derived from a combination of the legislature, bureaucratic agencies, and local governments in the form of school districts.

    Read More

  • Masculinity In Texas

    642 Words  | 2 Pages

    Texas is another essential part of the south and more importantly the south’s rise to power, by using economics and analyzing the demographic landscape of this state, it is easy to tell why. In terms of economic success per household, the median household income in Texas is relatively high at 8,157,575 dollars. This is high, due to the percent of people in the workforce at 63.6%, many people have well-paying jobs in Texas. A major part that Texas and the entire nation has struggled with is the percentage of people twenty-five years or older with a high school degree, with Texas with an underwhelming 24.8% and the nation at 28.6%. This makes the percentage that have are active in the workforce that much more impressive.

    Read More

  • Fracking In Texas

    878 Words  | 2 Pages

    Janise Miescke 5/6/2017 Assignment 3 When Money Speaks Louder than Obligation Texas has always been one to hold the belief ‘everything is bigger in Texas’.

    Read More

  • Individualistic and Traditionalistic Cultures in Texas

    1083 Words  | 3 Pages

    "Texas Politics - Texas Political Culture." Welcome to Texas Politics. University of Texas at Austin, 2011. Web. 15 Mar. 2011. .

    Read More

  • Florida’s Educational System Needs a Makeover

    973 Words  | 2 Pages

    Governor Rick Scott noticed that significant decreases in education funding hurt both students and teachers. So over the past two years Governor Scott has increased funding by about $2 billion, still well under his $3.3 billion cut to schools in his first year. Performance funding measures have been set by the state of Florida’s higher education system in an attempt to increase efficien...

    Read More

  • Persuasive Essay On Texas

    439 Words  | 1 Pages

    In “Texas improves school funding but still trails states,” even though Texas is one of the biggest states in the nation, yet they rank 40th in terms of money spent per student. The sheer amount of student population should be enough inventive to increase school spending because Texas teaches more students that surrounding smaller states, therefore, Texas takes on a bigger impact on the educational and economic impact on the country, and smaller surrounding states. During economic downtimes, a reduction in state aid to school is inevitable; a reasonable solution would be to bring funding back to the original numbers when the economy improves. That is easier said than done when the state only approves a $3.4 billion increase even though they previously cut back spending by $5.4 billion years earlier. Nearly all aspects of the public education system are poorly funded. Texas teachers are below the national average for salaries. With a state as large as Texas, funding for schools should be a top priority.

    Read More

  • Compare And Contrast California And Texas

    806 Words  | 2 Pages

    Texas and California are opposites in almost every way. State debt in Texas is much higher than California’s debt is. California went from being the state with the most immigration, to the state with the most people fleeing from it. Now Texas has taken the title of the most immigration, mostly because of the economic boom. California has the nation’s most powerful public employee unions, however in Texas union membership and insignificant. California has oil and gas reserves, but know little about how to utilize their resources. In contrast, Texas is highly successful in developing their oil and gas reserves. California has a ban against fracking, while Texas encourages it. In conclusion, then, while both states have similar advantages of resources, each one has taken a completely different direction with it, and the different effects on their economy shows.

    Read More

  • Mistake in Raising the Minimum Wage

    1062 Words  | 3 Pages

    When it cost more money to hire low-skill workers, businesses suffer. For example, fast-food chains rely mainly on low-skill workers. This would force restaurants, like McDonalds, to pay someone $10 an hour just to flip burgers. Brian Brenberg states, “The end result is that it will be harder for students like mine to land that first job and acquire those skills that lead to upward mobility.” (Brenberg) Plus, a White House graph reports 44% of mini...

    Read More

  • Persuasive Essay On School Drop Out Of High School

    912 Words  | 2 Pages

    Teens today face a lot of pressure. Many students deal with difficult life situations that hinder them from focusing on their futures. This can lead to a loss of interest in school and school events, such as a sports, clubs, or after school programs. Teens start to prioritize other things over their education. Every year, over 1.2 million students will leave school without earning a high school diploma in the United States alone (“11”). That’s a student every 26 seconds – or 7,000 a day (“11”). The United States, which used to have the highest graduation rates of any country, now ranks 22nd out of 27 developed countries (“11”). Students may not realize that by dropping out of high school they are more likely to commit crimes, become parents at a young age, use and abuse alcohol and drugs, and live in poverty (“Drop”). Dropouts make up the majority of those

    Read More

More about The Effect of Education on Texas

Open Document