Editorial on Education

Education... is arguably the single most important asset that a human being gains from being a member of a civilized society is again being sabotaged. On November 8, 2011 Hutto school district residents chose to reject the proposed property tax increase of 6 cents or 50 cents for every $100 dollars of property value. The increase would have raised $1.2 million dollars to offset future State level cuts in education spending. The voters made this decision based on a belief that the school finance system is unfair and unconstitutional. The Hutto school district is one member of a coalition of Texas school districts that sued the state last month on that basis. That being the case, I can understand that passing the increase would weaken their stance in court. However, it seems to me that the residents of the school district and the State both are forgetting about the most important part of the equation in education, the children. The ability to provide a quality education to them directly corresponds to their ability to thrive and develop skills that will allow them to be a productive part of society. This unless I am mistaken is the purpose of the schools and the monies allotted to them. Not providing the children of the district, the state and the nation with quality education is in the end a severe detriment to all of our well being. It will produce citizens that are unable to compete in the global market, this in turn means more jobs going offshore and a further collapse in the economy. Education is the key to success and must be a top priority. Unfortunately, when it comes to the value of education Texas really needs to get its act together. We are ranked ranked 44^th in spending per student per school year at $9,143 and according to the most recent study by the US Census Bureau as of 2009 Texas was ranked 50^th out of the 50 states in number of citizens over the age of 25 that have graduated high school or have earned a General Education Diploma. I do understand money is tight, my question is where is it going and who is doing the math? We are one of the wealthiest States in the Union after all.