Lately in Texas education all you hear about is the massive budget cuts the State has been making in the education department which leads to larger class sizes, letting go of great teachers, fewer courses students can pick from, and fewer scholarship opportunities for students. But the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board is trying to stick with their plan that was made 11 years ago called the “Closing the Gaps by 2015.”
The plan the board members have been working on is to have by the year 2015 the enrollment in higher education institutions to be at 1,650,000 students. The goals of the plan, besides improving enrollment, is to increase the number of undergraduate degrees and certificates awarded, improve individual Texas college ratings and to have more funding for research conducted at individual institutions. So far the plan of having enrollment increase and having more students get degrees or certificates has happened. The board even increased federal funding for research in institutions from 5.3 percent in 2000 to 5.6 percent in 2010.
I think this is great that Texas is having more people go into and finish higher education but I personally believe the bigger problem is the education students receive before they reach higher education. With Texas cutting big chunks out of the education program, the State needs to work on how they will make sure the students are still receiving a good primary and secondary education with a variety of classes. Students need a broad education in order to make decision about their career otherwise the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board is doing all this work for nothing. The Board is trying to add more degrees and certificates but if students in secondary education are having fewer courses to broaden their minds to new things, the institutions will no longer need so many degrees.
Texas needs to find a way they can balance education programs. The State needs to stop cutting the budget for education because it isn’t doing any good for the future citizens of Texas.
Texas needs to reconsider their education systems and programs to fix the low high school graduates and the low SAT scores. Texas is trying many new ways to improve this and have made some accomplishments. However, the bigger problem stands on what the government is deciding to do with education. They are cutting education budget from public schools.
ReplyDeleteThe State of Texas placed 49 out of 50 in verbal scores in the nation and 46 out of 50 in math SAT scores. Texas is also number 36 in the nation in high school graduation rates. This is way too low, don’t you think? Due to the budget crisis Texas is facing, Texas cut about $5 billion dollars from public schools recently. Financial Aids given to college students also has dramatically decreased over the years.
In the “Texas Needs Education” posted on August 3rd, 2011, it states, “Texas needs to find a way they can balance education programs. The State needs to stop cutting the budget for education because it isn’t doing any good for the future citizens of Texas”. I strongly agree with this opinion, because I also see the hope of our bright future in the hands of our upcoming generation.
The government is finding other issues more important than education, and is paying more attention to things that are in their faces at the moment. However, I think that education should be the first priority and should be getting the most consideration because it really is the future; better educated people will make Texas a better place.