Big Turnout In Austin

Texas has a serious budget shortfal for the next biennium -- about $27 billion. And the Republican leadership, including Governor Rick Perry, has decided they can make up that huge deficit simply by cutting services. Among the cuts being proposed is a $9 billion cut to state education -- a cut that would probably have to force the lay-off of up to 100,000 teachers statewide.

When you consider that Texas already funds its schools at a per pupil rate that is less than any other state in the nation and Texas has a dropout rate approaching 30%, it is easy to see that the drastic cuts proposed for education will have to have a negative effect on schools and their ability to educate children. It is a short-sighted move that puts the future of the state and its citizens in jeopardy.

San Antonio mayor Julian Castro puts it well when he says, "We have more people coming to Texas from all over the nation than ever before. What that means is that we have a choice to make: We can choose to invest in the future or choose to close our eyes and make bad decisions." The Republican leadership is choosing to close their eyes to Texas education and its problems.

And they seem to have finally struck a chord with Texas citizens. Yesterday, citizens from all over the state converged on the Capitol to voice their displeasure over the draconian cuts to education. Texans are willing to sacrifice to pull the state out of its financial trouble, but they are not willing to sacrifice the future to do it.

Capitol police put the size of the crowd at about 9,000 people, but it was probably larger than that. Event organizers said they ran out of the 11,000 stickers they brought to hand out to the participants.

With their idiotic cuts to education, the Republicans may have actually awakened a sleeping giant in the electorate -- at least I hope so.