The Doer Alone Learnth

 

re·form

 

riˈfôrm

verb

1.

make changes in (something, typically a social, political, or economic institution or practice) in order to improve it.

"The roots of education are bitter, but the fruit is sweet." -Aristotle

 

In response to Cung Doan’s blog, Higher Taxes For Better Education?,  I must start by asking him if he is a home owner that currently pays taxes into the Texas school system.  My husband and I currently pay $10,000…. I repeat $10,000 a year in taxes in order to be a home owner.  Just under $6,000 of those dollars go to the Leander Independent School District for children that I did not birth, to go to school.  In 2012, Texas had 26,059,203 residents.  If Amendment 66 were to pass in the state of Texas, it would increase each person’s taxes by approximately $38.00.  When you break it down even further, it is obvious to see that the homeowner is the brunt carrier of this tax burden… their obligation will be much higher as many of our Texas residents who are not homeowners, do not pay taxes in to our school system.  While I do agree with Mr. Doan that a tax height would help our school systems and I would in fact waiver toward the side of this type of amendment, I also would like more answers about what type of reform and progress this would bring. 

Currently in Texas we are facing some very large issues in our public school system.  We are embracing a ghastly growing population, a text book validity crisis, funding cuts that put Texas at or below 45^th in the nation when it comes for funding for public education, funding distribution issues, ESL programs, adequate pay for teachers, testing standards and special needs standards.  If I were to vote for an amendment such as Amendment 66, I want to know how the funding is going to directly aid education reform.  Also, I would want to know more about how current funds are being distributed to aid all of these current issues.  If fund are presently being misused, then more funds will be misused as well.   Overall, I do agree with Mr. Doan but I am more interested in Texas education because not only is it the environment that my children will be in, but it is also what I pay for.  I think it is important to hold our school accountable for good spending and expect that when we give educators more money, that it directly touches our children.