Texas mayors call better education vital
June 26, 2008
Though quality of life and cost of living are what attract business to Texas now, a panel of mayors from the three largest cities in the state told lawyers at a bar convention here Thursday that what will keep the cities thriving is better education.
Written by Mary Flood, Houston Chronicle
Though quality of life and cost of living are what attract business to Texas now, a panel of mayors from the three largest cities in the state told lawyers at a bar convention here Thursday that what will keep the cities thriving is better education.
"If you're a global economy and you want to compete on the basis of brains, you better invest in brains," said Houston Mayor Bill White.
He said a city doesn't want to be known for having the people who can do backbreaking work the longest.
White said there's not really that much actual oil and natural gas in Houston.
"We're the center for oil and gas because we have the brain power, the know-how," he said.
White, San Antonio Mayor Phil Hardberger and Dallas Mayor Tom Leppert spoke on a panel at the State Bar of Texas annual meeting at the George R. Brown Convention Center. The convention, which largely consists of continuing legal education for lawyers, continues today.
Hardberger said he's concerned that Texas' state government is failing its cities by not sending more dollars for education. "That's the soft underbelly in Texas. We don't have enough educated people," he said.
Leppert said part of the problem is that the Legislature still has a rural emphasis when 60 percent of the economy is in the three cities represented on stage.
The three mayors spent a great deal of the panel time bragging about their cities — how livable they are, how green they are trying to become and how they attract business.
Leppert bragged about the interstate highways, runways and the infrastructure in Dallas.
White bragged about the fast growth in Houston and that people wanting to move here proves success in itself.
Hardberger talked about the quality of life in San Antonio and how its goal isn't growth so much as even more quality.
When asked about businesses looking at the state, only the Dallas mayor said tort reform issues and the reputation of the state's courts have ever been a factor mentioned by business, but he said that is no longer the case.
White and Hardberger both said business is attracted to their cities by a quality of life component that includes the low cost of housing, plentiful parks and culture, abundant work and a welcoming population.
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