Senator Eliot Shapleigh - El Paso, Texas

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"Keeping Hope Alive"

Texas will succeed when we invest in our future—and our future is our children.

Today, we live in what economists call an "intangible economy."  What drives success and prosperity is knowledge—understanding, initiative and innovation.  Investment in creativity and ideas plays the part that raw materials, such as factory labor and capital, once played under industrial capitalism.  Knowledge is money—and what we earn depends on what we learn.

If Texas is going to meet the challenge of a knowledge-based 21st Century economy, new policies and new leadership will have to take us there.  In our recent past, Texas has made the wrong choices on education and today we are experiencing the results.    

In 2003, Texas was faced with a $10 billion shortfall in the budget.  Instead of protecting critical investments in public and higher education, state leaders passed tax breaks for millionaires—about $300 million a year for the wealthiest Texans—then hiked college costs through tuition de-regulation to make up the difference. 

In a state where just 26 percent of Texans aged 25 to 65 have a college education or better, limiting access to education is a policy we can not afford.

To remain a competitive state, Texas' master plan for higher education—"Closing the Gaps"—says we must add 630,000 college students by 2015.  When we consider that a person with a high school diploma earns $1.7 million over a lifetime, while a person with a bachelor's degree earns on average $3 million, the value of education is clear.  Additionally, a 2007 study released by The Perryman Group shows that for each dollar spent on higher education today will result in an economic return on $24.15 in total spending, $9.60 in gross state product, and $6.01 in personal income by 2030.

Many of these new students will be Hispanic Texans.  Between 2000 and 2005, Hispanic enrollment increased by 82,065 students, or 34.6 percent, the largest increase of any ethnic group.  Yet, the higher education participation level for Hispanic students failed to meet Texas' 2005 target by 20,541 students.  In 2006, Hispanic enrollment remained short of the 2005 target by 6,000 students.

In order to meet the 2010 participation target participation rate of 4.8 percent of the Texas Hispanic population, the state's institutions of higher education will have to increase enrollment by another 41.9 percent. 

The good news is that if we achieve the "Closing the Gaps" goal, we will see higher levels of income, lower levels of unemployment and poverty, and higher levels of civic participation.  Fortunately, programs such as TEXAS Grants can put Texas on track for success—but like too many investments in the future of our state, TEXAS Grants is on life support.

TEXAS Grants is a grant program that was created to make sure that well-prepared high school graduates with financial need could go to college.  Since the program was created in 1999, it has been regarded as a huge success.  In 2000, nearly 11,000 students had received a TEXAS Grant to pay for college; by 2006, a total of 161,000 students had received 327,000 TEXAS Grants to help achieve the dream of college. 

Unfortunately, funding has failed to keep up with the demand.  The Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board estimates that over 38,000 eligible students will not receive a TEXAS Grant in the 2007-08 academic year.

In a democracy, budgets are moral choices.  In our government, budgets reflect what we value.  Our vision should be broad-based and forward-looking toward our long-term prosperity.  Though today's economic factors may be "intangible," the costs of not investing in the minds of our own children are all too tangible.

To close the gap in Texas, we must graduate more of our best and brightest.  If we invest in our greatest resource, our children, Texas will be the state of the future.

Let's keep hope alive!

Eliot Shapleigh