Population, employment growth, and U.S./Mexico border business opportunities require increasing equitable capital investments in South Texas, which has a long history of policy neglect.
Tag: Public Policy
By Chloe Latham Sikes, Ph.D., and Paige Duggins-Clay, J.D. • IDRA Newsletter • June – July 2023
Texas lawmakers began the legislative session with expert advice in hand from several state plans to strengthen public education by expanding student learning, addressing the teacher shortage, and improving bilingual education. Instead, lawmakers spent hours in hearings and legislating on red-meat issues, including further classroom censorship. Expert recommendations from major state plans, including the Teacher Vacancy Task Force and Emergent Bilingual Strategic Plan fell by the wayside.
Latino and Black families are being regulated to a generational and permanent underclass population status. The history of Texas’ minimalist approach to policymaking has perpetuated limited human capital investments, and unequal opportunities to achieve family bienestar1 (well- being) – real middle-class equivalency.
Latinos more than the general U.S. population believe in the American dream; however, many also believe it’s too hard to reach.1 In Texas, where less than one-half have achieved middle-class economic status, hard to reach, is an understatement – decades of political and policy barriers prove it.
Public polices matter. Laws and policies relating to taxes, education, health care, criminal justice, banking, housing and neighborhood development, environment, civic rights, etc. are a direct result of policy-making that may have positive or negative consequences. It is expected that they be fair and equitable to all. In particular, they should be responsive to human capital investment that builds social and economic opportunities and prosperity for its citizens.
The Uvalde tragedy resulted in extensive media, punditry, and political attention. Yet, has anyone asked what the children’s families and predominant Latino community want? The failed communications and understanding of their wants serve as a microcosm of what happens across Latino communities.
This study examines the relationship between school funding and access to calculus among Texas school districts. Specifically, I posit the question, does Texas school funding influence calculus enrollment?
The 2018 midterm election sounded creaking noises in Texas suggesting that the long- anticipated demographic wave would turn the state blue. It did not happen in 2018, but surely 2020 would be the year. To add to the intrigue, Latinos accounted for three of every five new Texans eligible to vote and grassroot organizations were making great headway in registering Latino voters.
The United States is experiencing one of the longest economic expansions in modern history. The unemployment rate in Texas has declined from just over 8% in late 2009 to 3.5% in the first half of 2019. During this period the Texas labor force has increased by some 3 million and seen wages and salaries increase by $270 billion. In light of these great numbers, it is only natural to wonder how widespread this bounty has been.
Texas’ highly publicized 5 million-plus uninsured residents1, of which over 3 million are Latino, has become routine and insignificant. The exorbitant number fails to convey the reality of unnecessary deaths, poor health, disability, and financial impact on thousands of individuals and families.