Free Republic

There are a few things that will have to change if Texas is serious about providing quality education for all children. One of them is affirmative action. Not the concept, per-se, just the words. Those two words, affirmative action, when attached to the topic of education, are so encumbered with divisive meaning that they are useless. The term is a lightning rod attracting immediate defensiveness. People have a nasty tendency to burden words. We hear them once and associate a meaning with them. And as we use them, in conversations, in debates, in arguments, we attach personal perspectives and prejudices....

Legislator proposes state income tax Says plan is a fair way to fund schools EL PASO -- The only fair way to reform school financing is to create a state income tax, lower property taxes and write an ironclad law that ensures the money is spent on education, a senator told a Texas House caucus on Thursday. However, Sen. Eliot Shapleigh, D-El Paso, who spoke at a Mexican American Legislative Caucus hearing in El Paso, said he didn't believe the current method of financing, called "Robin Hood," is broken. The Texas Legislature is expected to be called to a special...