Senator Eliot Shapleigh - El Paso, Texas

Have you ever wished you had more control over the state budget set by Texas' Legislature?  Do you wish you had a direct role in ensuring that your vision of Texas' future becomes a reality?  Well, on November 3, every voting Texan will have an opportunity to chart a path to a better state: increased investment in our children's future, more competitive institutions of higher education, and long-lasting gains in the state's ability to compete globally.

Voting yes on Proposition 4 on the November 3 ballot will help increase the number of Texas' tier one universities—schools that are nationally recognized for their research.  The proposed amendment would amend the Texas Constitution to create the national research university fund, which will provide a dedicated and equitable source of funding to enable emerging research universities to take the additional and costly step of achieving national prominence as major research universities. 

Proposition 4 will allow the legislature to move nearly $500 million that is currently sitting in a dormant state fund into the national research university fund.  The state's seven emerging research universities—University of Houston, Texas Tech University, University of North Texas, University of Texas at Arlington, University of Texas at Dallas, University of Texas at El Paso, and University of Texas at San Antonio—would then compete for the funding as they make strides toward tier one status.

Click here to view larger image.

The University of Texas at El Paso

Currently, only two public universities in Texas are considered among the top tier of research institutions nationally—The University of Texas at Austin and Texas A&M University.  California, on the other hand, exemplifies what can happen when a state prioritizes higher education and sets out a goal to build numerous top-quality research universities aimed at generating jobs, spurring technology growth, and advancing the cause of higher education.  Currently, California has eight tier one universities, resulting in a huge boon to the state's research base and commercial development.  It is not just a coincidence that companies such as Google and Qualcomm have developed on the west coast.

Unfortunately, past legislatures have not placed the appropriate value on ensuring Texas' competitiveness in higher education.  In response to our S.B. 1564 during the 81st Regular Session, the Higher Education Coordinating Board compared the average fiscal year 2006-07 state appropriations per student for the seven emerging research universities in Texas to their peer national research institutions in other states such as the Universities of Buffalo, Arizona, Kansas, Maryland, Missouri, Nebraska, and Wisconsin. 

The Coordinating Board estimated that the average 2006-07 state appropriations for the seven Texas universities was $5,160, while the average for the peer institutions was $11,867—an astounding difference of $6,707.  How can we expect the seven to compete nationally when the Legislature is forcing them to fight for talent and research funding with such a dramatic difference in funding?

Even the Governor's business supporters agree.  Recently, the Select Commission on Higher Education and Global Competitiveness, created during the 80th Regular Session by a resolution sponsored by our office, released a report examining how to make Texas competitive once again.  The report found:

Texas is not globally competitive.  The state faces a downward spiral in both quality of life and economic competitiveness if it fails to educate more of its growing population (both young and adults) to higher levels of attainment, knowledge and skills.  The rate at which educational capital is currently being developed is woefully inadequate.  Texas also needs an innovation-based economy in all the state's regions that can fully employ a more capable workforce.  It must generate more external research funding, and commercialize ideas and intellectual property at a volume substantially greater than currently taking place. In other words, to compete in a knowledge-based 21st century, our state's very future depends the education of our children.

Fortunately, Texans can help turn the tide on November 3.  To take that first, important step to guarantee Texas'—and our children's—ability to compete in the future, voters should vote yes on Proposition 4.