Immigration in Texas?

One of my fellow classmates, Kristen posted an article about Immigration In Texas. She states the article says that illegal immigration should stop and Texas should take control and make their own laws since the Federal Government isn’t taking any actions yet. There weren’t many facts in the article stated about the status of immigration in Texas and she didn’t go into detail why she supported anti-immigration. She did state though that the Migration Policy Institute has reported that over 1 million illegal immigrants and their children reside in Texas at this time. This is a very big number for that many illegal immigrants to be living in Texas. I do agree with my classmate on some extent to the subject. I think we should have a better plan to stop illegal immigrants coming into our state. But I also believe a lot of these immigrants hold jobs that many other Americans wouldn’t be willing to do such as construction. I believe the illegal immigrants that are already here in Texas or anywhere in America should be able to get citizenship so we don’t have this problem and they are paying taxes which seem to be a important issue in this article. I know this very hard to get all these people citizenship but we should try to get as many as we can. People want to come to America and get their kids better education and live better lives so we should be able to give it to them but yes we should also do it the right way and stop people from crossing the border with fake social security numbers and passports. It is hard for me to pick sides on this issue just because my parents were immigrants and I wouldn’t have the things I have today without them coming here. But I do believe we need to have laws to stop immigration but not get rid of the existing ones right now.

Perry Getting Smarter?

Texas Education Agency says the high school drop out rate for Texas is 10.5 percent. This might all change on what Perry is trying to do with a new text book system. The article in the Austin American Statesman by Kelley Shannon says that Rick Perry is trying to replace text books in schools to online technology. Perry believes that text books get out of date quickly sometimes even before they reach the schools. Perry defended his education record which isn’t great comparing numbers to other states. Perry also says that using computer software to teach students will allow schools to update curriculum and students can learn technology. Perry also wants the switch to be done cost effectively and I don’t know how that would happen without spending some big bucks. Texas is already testing the waters in this area, they let some schools last year spend their text book money on electronic instructional materials. This plan could also be great for students who don’t have computers at home which would teach them technology.
I think this is a great idea for the Texas government to adopt. First students will be able to learn new material rather than what is in the old books in some of the school systems today. When I was in High school a lot of the books were way out of date and didn’t provide information to what we need to know in this new era. For Perry this is clearly a re-election tool because of this track record of education compared to other states is below average, but also a very smart idea his term in office hasn’t been great but this could be a step forward to insure that many people in high school graduate and don’t drop out. The four year graduation rate is only at 79 percent and this could help improve the rate. The only problem is that the government will have to reach in to their pockets and find money to fund all these public schools computers for all the students but this would eventually pay itself. Some students don’t have the opportunities’ others do at home where some students have access to computers. These students without computers at home can take advantage in school and learn technology as it is being used. I think for the first time in a while Rick Perry is taking steps to improve our school system and insure people that students will be getting the best education. I hope that Texas can come up with a way to help our high school students for the future.