And The Gubernatorial Winner Is … Education

Texas gubernatorial candidates should focus on Education as a top priority in the upcoming election. With the huge cuts to education in Texas and the diminishing college graduates heading into the teaching profession due to lack of funding, Texan youths and families are being cheated by the decisions made by the Texas Legislature.  Whether it will be Wendy Davis or Greg Abbott, Texans should have a governor who will ameliorate the inequities of public education in Texas. 

Abbott is less likely to put funnel additional money toward education, but wanting better quality of existing educational programs in the public sector. Davis is stating that the Republicans deleted money that is vitally needed for funding decent education. This ongoing exchange during debates does not yet solve the issue. Most people would agree with Greg Abbott that just spending more money is not the answer unless there are specific targeted areas for improvement. If Davis is to become the next Governor she should target a concise plan of expenditures and outline a way to monitor such monies.

Davis, during her filibuster, made it abundantly clear that the Republicans put public education in jeopardy by cutting that budget and neglecting to fix the problems. She made the point that public teachers cannot continue to make less money, increase class sizes, and have less financial support and still provide quality education to young Texans.

Both sides see themselves as having redeemable aspects to their projected solutions to educational problems in the state. Davis points out if we could forgive student loans for those going into public education as careers, it might encourage more top notch students to dedicate themselves to the future generation. Abbott’s focus on more charter schools allows parents more options and encourages competition that could improve productivity.

The fact remains that without a workable solution to this major issue, Texans will be getting an inferior education, and this will impact every other potential issue. Whether the topics during the gubernatorial debates will include fiscal budgets, environment, immigration, job availability in Texas, health care, etcetera, education will impact each and every topic now and in the future. It is vital that the topic of Education should be the priority for any debate and, more importantly, for any future governor.