Rick Perry: Dismal Failure

From the other guy running for Texas governor.

Perry Education Record: Dismal Failure

Texans need look no further than Perry's failed leadership on education to see why he's overstayed his welcome. From school finance, to school performance, to the skyrocketing costs of college, the Perry record on education is an unspeakable, unspinnable flop.

School Finance: Through five regular and special legislative sessions, Perry has had the opportunity to fix our broken public school finance system; he is 0 for 5. On the two occasions when he even bothered to propose a school finance plan, his own Republican-controlled legislature literally laughed him out of the capitol building. And it is a good thing they did, because his plans would have raised taxes on the vast majority of Texas families to pay for tax cuts and exemptions for his elite political patrons, and would have even further weakened our public school system while protecting existing tax loopholes that the big shot contributors who bankroll Perry already enjoy.

School Performance: Under this governor's failed leadership, the number of Texas schools failing to make the grade has nearly doubled in just one year -- from 420 in the 2003-04 school year, to 821 in the 2004-2005 school year. Perry and his Republican leadership team have imposed one unfunded mandate after another on Texas school districts without providing our students, teachers, administrators and local boards with the resources to meet those demands. The Perry prescription? More vouchers, more standardized tests, and even fewer resources for the schools that need help the most.

Access to College: A few short years ago in Texas, our colleges and universities were among the best educational values in the nation; under Governor Perry that is no longer the case. More and more Texans are finding the doors to college closed to their children, priced out of higher education by skyrocketing tuition costs and fees, and an increasing lack of adequate financial aid. In 2003, Perry signed legislation deregulating tuition rates at our public colleges and universities, resulting in tuition costs skyrocketing by nearly 50 percent statewide and over 100 percent at some of our premier universities. Perry even made it more difficult for families to plan ahead or prepare in advance to meet the rising costs of a college education. He passively sat by and did nothing as his Republican legislative leaders dismantled the innovative and effective Texas Tomorrow Fund, which had allowed thousands of hardworking Texas families to prepare for their children's higher education by investing in advance in pre-paid tuition and fees at lower current rates.

Texas families -- school children, college students and parents -- deserve better. But they won't get it while Rick Perry and his cronies are in charge.