The Effect of Education on Texas

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Recommended: Texas education policies within the last decade

So many times you hear an adolescent say, “I have to drop out of high school to help pay the bills.” The sad part about this is that most adolescence never return to complete their education with a GED or go on to a secondary school. Per Politics Today, Weatherford College’s Texas Government book, Texas ranked 41st of 50 in the United State of high school graduates. As of 2005 U.S. Census data, Texas was rated 45th of 50 in high school graduates. These students, which end up not completing a high school degree or secondary school, do not understand that their education has an effect on Texas socially, economically, and politically.
Tax revenues are the start of how resident’s, of Texas, education has an effect. With an increase number of less-educated laborers the reduced the average income of Texans becomes. This means that residents begin working at minimum wage paying jobs like McDonalds, Sonic, and Chicken Express because they do not have the education nor work skills to be hired at a job that pays more than minimum wage. Nor do these places of employment expect to pay more for an employee who cannot benefit their company. Empirical studies show that low education levels are associated with lower income levels; therefore, failure to complete high school or college negatively impacts average earnings.
According to the Texas State Data Center, by 2040 approximately 30.1% of the labor force will not have a high school diploma. That would be an 18.8% increase from 2000. If this predicted percentage occurs, a higher share of Texas’ workforce would be less educated and low skilled, making Texas’ economy less competitive. But why should we care about being less competitive? Because being competitive allows our state to maintain low...

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...ion Projections and Implications." The Changing Face of Texas. N.p.: Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas, 2005. 37-44. Print.

PolitiFact. "Democrats Say Texas Graduation Rate Fell to 50th under Rick Perry." The Truth-O-Meter Says:. Tampa Bay Times PolitiFact.com, 8 Sept. 2011. Web. 22 Jan. 2014. .

Texas Politics. "5.3 Education." Texas Politics - Political Economy. Liberal Arts Instructional Technology Services, 22 Jan. 2014. Web. 22 Jan. 2014. .
Based on U.S. Census data compiled by the Rockefeller Institute of Government, Gateway to States and Local Information, link: "States Ranked by Total Elementary and Secondary Educational Expenditures in Fiscal Year 2000","(accessed on 9/23/2003)." "The Impact of the State Higher Education System on the Texas Economy," Texas Comptroller of Public Accounts, January 2003.

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