OPINION — Though I am chair of the Tom Green County Democratic Party, I HATE much of what we find in today’s politics. I know politics are important, because the decisions made by government affect people’s lives, but I still don’t like much of what I see in today’s politics.
I despise the incivility that is so prevalent in today’s politics. Several people asked me whether I was going to counter the sadistic lying ads run in the paper by members of our community against Democrats. My reply is NO! Those ads simply reveal the character – or lack thereof – of the people who paid for them, and anything I would write won’t change the minds of anyone who believes those ads.
I was heartened to read last week that a survey, conducted by a group called MORE IN COMMON, had found that 67% of the country is what the organization calls the “Exhausted Majority,” a group that is displeased by America’s polarization and would like for people to find common ground.
So let’s talk FACTS and about where most of us might have common ground – our support for public education funding. Public education should be a bi-partisan issue.
FACT: Last legislative session, the Texas House – led by Speaker Joe Strauss, with the strong support of our own Drew Darby – appropriated an increase in funds for our public schools.
FACT: The Texas Senate never voted on this legislation. Lt. Governor Dan Patrick held it hostage, refusing to bring it up for a vote unless the Texas House agreed to his (and Governor Abbott’s) plan for private school vouchers. That is a program that has failed everywhere it has been tried, where the state takes YOUR tax dollars and gives them to rich people who are already sending their kids to private schools. The goal is to privatize education to turn our neighborhood schools into profit centers that will enrich the schools’ owners at the expense of our children and our families.
FACT: The less money the state puts into our public neighborhood school system, the more your property taxes go up. As Speaker Strauss recently said, “Putting more state dollars into public education will help teachers and students, reduce the burden on local property taxes, and keep more local dollars in local schools.”
FACT: Not too long ago, the State of Texas paid 50% of the cost of a student to attend public school, but now it pays only 38%, and Senate leaders plan to cut it to 36% next year.
FACT: If Drew Darby, a Republican, is the next Speaker of the House for Texas and tries to put more money into public schools, he will have the support of Texas Democrats and moderate pro-education and pro-business Republicans, but not the support of our Tea Party leaders in Texas state government: Governor Abbott, Lt. Governor Patrick, Attorney General Ken Paxton, Agriculture Commissioner Sid Miller, and Land Commissioner George P. Bush.
So here is an idea. There are no pro-education/pro-business Republicans on the ballot this year for statewide office, just Tea Party extremists who don’t support funding public education. Why don’t the pro-education Republicans join with the pro-education Democrats and elect common-sense candidates who know funding public education is the most important issue in the state of Texas?
Let’s find COMMON GROUND and support public education.
And one other way is to support public education. I want to urge you voters in the San Angelo ISD and the Christoval ISD to PLEASE support the school bonds on the ballot, ALL OF THEM.
In the real world, more than 95% of a local school district’s operations budget is used for salaries and programs. The only way to make major investments in our school district’s infrastructure is through bonds. No matter how much we save from operations, there remains NO real money to fix up old buildings and make them safe or to build new ones. It is impossible without a bond (just as it is impossible for most people to buy a house without taking out a mortgage). By law, bonds cannot be used for salaries, only facilities; and friends, facilities – like houses – get old and need repairs. That is the real world. Do the right thing for our kids, their teachers, and our future economic growth as a community – VOTE YES to these school bonds.
Subscribe to the LIVE! Daily
Required
Comments
About the only 'FACTS' in David's article is that Drew Darby is our State Rep., Republicans do have all of the State elected offices and education is important...
Oh... btw Bill Ford is a Republican and the write-in guy voted democrat in the last election.
- Log in or register to post comments
PermalinkJust because you put "FACT:" in front of your sentence doesn't make it a fact but I'll play your little game.
Here's a fact for you: your high profile Democrat leaders have called for violence against Republicans and that's who you align yourself with? They are accosted in public places constantly.
Fact: It was your party that denounced God at their national convention and that's who you align yourself with?
Fact: you want to talk about this being about the kids when your party presides over vagina hat wearing, sexualized parading events that don't take into account how that type of behavior damages them. In addition, your party not only advocates for the murder of children but the celebration of said murder and that's who you align yourself with?
Fact: Your piece (some of it) is meant to elicit emotion and doesn't look at things logically i.e. why the school district wastes tons of the money that it is provided. How, you may ask? I've been to schools and seen where breakfast foods that are to be used for children are thrown in the garbage. There is a mentality that if you don't use every bit of every dollar that is provided by the state (I mean John Q. Public -the taxpayer aka you and me) you won't have it next year so instead of cutting costs and utilizing monies that would be there if things were run more efficiently it goes in the garbage. There is rampant waste.
Fact:I'm not rich and I would have loved to have a voucher for my kids to pay for the private school they attended. It came at great sacrifice to me and my family. You provide no supporting documentation regarding "That is a program that has failed everywhere it had been tried." Via private education my child was able to CLEP loads of English and History courses in college. A voucher would have helped us to be more in the middle class and not working 2 or 3 jobs at a time.
Fact: A new gym isn't going to raise anyone's test scores one iota. These bonds have been put in place because you have overpaid administrators and a school board and many working in the schools who simply don't know how to run things in a fiscally conservative way. The mentality is if we've got the money use it. Do astroturf football fields improve academics? Here's a clue:no. Does copper roofing improve academics? Again no! Does any type of frivolous spending help academics? Once more the answer is no and yet you and others want to continue raising our tax bills. It is ridiculous.
Fact: many children not making the grade is a problem that has its roots in a lack of discipline in the home and a lack of parental involvement in the lives of children. Some of these parents spend their time living for themselves and their addictions as opposed to taking time to properly discipline and train their children. Many of these children keep others from learning because they don't know how to behave properly in public settings. No amount of school bond money is going to change that.
Fact: I've already voted no and anyone with half a lick of common sense should too.
- Log in or register to post comments
PermalinkNo, just can't afford any more out of my income to pay more and more for taxes. Enough is enough.
- Log in or register to post comments
PermalinkMoney for new buildings and other trinkets don't help teachers or children. Our kids went to a poor Christian school where the desks they studied at were bought at a public school auction and were fifty years old. They had dedicated Christian teachers and used the ABEKA curriculum. Through God's grace and the effort of underpaid dedicated Christian teachers all of our children enjoyed a full ride at the colleges of their choice and are highly successful in their professions. Public Education and Organized Crime are alike...The Shake Downs never end. Vote NO and NO to this continuing bondage. I wonder of any of the individuals in the lead in photo are the ones going around town stealing Ted Cruz yard signs?
- Log in or register to post comments
PermalinkSorry Mr. Currie, but it will be a NO on my ballot. The facts you presented are that, facts. Any educated voter worthy of casting a vote can look it all up. The state has failed the public education system in favor of tax breaks for the booming energy industry. The energy independence touted by the drill baby drill crowd was supposed to help fund infrastructure and education. What happened? They preferred record deficits and debt. Is the Tea Party dead or have they just abandoned their founding principle? Tsk, tsk, tsk.
- Log in or register to post comments
PermalinkHow civil have a majority of Democrats been in the last 2 years? I can’t take out loan after loan without paying for the first! At what point do I pay enough to the schools? 50 percent?
- Log in or register to post comments
PermalinkPost a comment to this article here: