Texas Can Do Better

Indeed, Texas can do better when it comes to the way our current state leadership is trying to balance the budget using a "cuts only" approach. I became aware of the video below via a post on Miguel Guhlin's Around the Corner blog. It is sponsored by the Texas Can Do Better campaign which is sponsored by the Texas American Federation of Teachers.

I am not an AFT member, but I am 100% supportive of efforts by anyone who is trying to get the truth out there, which is:

• We will continue to hit this same education finance wall every two years until our state leaders choose to fix the structural deficit that is built into the budget due to an under-performing business tax that is supposed to be financing education.
• A "cuts only" approach to balancing the Texas budget will result in 65,000 jobs being lost in public education, which will reduce programs intended to support and enrich the learning of Texas children.
• The state should use the majority of the Rainy Day Fund to mitigate the current budget shortfall while concurrently passing legislation to permanently fix the structural deficit.

The video below from Texas Can Do Better is a compelling explanation of what is at stake if we do not insist that our legislators prioritize education funding and find a permanent fix for school finance in Texas.