With all this Texas pride floating around, you'd think that the state would be a little more prestigious; especially when it comes to education. As is said, the children are our future. Texas only ranks 44th on a scale of 51 for literacy rates in the United States. This might be explained by how little Texas invests in the education of our future generations. Texas is 36th in the state in regards to how much it spends on each student. Texas spent an average of $10,456 per student which sounds like a lot, but it is still 2,300 below the national average.
Texas spends millions of dollars on standardized testing, which is proven to hinder the public education system rather than help it. I understand the idea was to make sure schools were doing their jobs and educating their students but it simply doesn't work that way. Instead of educating young minds, they are teaching them to take tests. If it isn't on the STARR test then it isn't "necessary" to teach them dull things like critical thinking. Also, schools that score better on the tests receive more funds making it more difficult for schools that are struggling to properly educate their students to keep up. The schools with too low funding fall to ruin and the students pay for with poor education. There should be no such thing as a bad school. All students have the right to learn.
Texas is an amazing state and can afford to do much better for its future generations. Let's climb the ranks and put Texas on top of education where it belongs. First, by investing more into our education system. Second, by using our funds wisely. Third, by dividing the funds up by population, not by location. We are Texans, let's act like it.
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I agree with your comment that Texas need to focus more on funding system.
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