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Tuesday, October 4, 2011

What is happening to public education? - Your Houston News: Opinion

What is happening to public education? - Your Houston News: Opinion:

What is happening to public education?

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Posted: Sunday, October 2, 2011 5:28 pm

The Texas legislature’s assault on public school funding last spring came as a surprise to many people. Texas has a budget deficit? I thought our economy was doing well compared to other states?

In the end, the Texas legislature, with an influx of new Tea Party members in the House, cut $4 billion from public education. It could have been worse, but this past legislative session was a humbling indication of how vulnerable public education has become to conservative and corporate schemes to gradually dismantle the public education system.

I fear that the cuts to public education are part of a conservative and corporate assault on education as a public good. The under-funding of public education is part of a circular strategy to create the conditions where schools