Studies and the LACK of Facts

Texas on the Brink
“Distant Dream”
How Texas Ranks Among the 50 States
January 2007 ~ Third Edition

Tonight's entry will be a verbose venting of my spleen focused on the injustice done by the authors of this so called study. I must say its a wonderful example of statistical reporting done with one eye closed to the facts and the other purposefully misrepresenting the facts via poor analysis. Can you tell I might be a little upset over this study?

Why, facts are facts are they not? Yes, facts are facts if they are factual and presented in a fair and unbiased manner. The authors of this study have taken time to list all kinds of facts that pit Texas against our fellow States. Makes one wonder how that works given Texas has many social and economical issues that are shared only by a few states.

I personally would love to hear how Iowa is dealing with their large border they share with Mexico.....or how Pennsylvania is dealing with the massive influx of immigrants from Mexico that swell their welfare rolls. Better yet what about North Dakotas issues with the changing demographics of their citizens to a predominantly Hispanic nature. No, these facts I have listed are not other states issued but they are Texas's issues.

These are just a few problems Texas deals with that other states don't yet we are pasted at the bottom or the top of the ratings and hardly ever in a good manner. If your going to do a ranking study that focuses on social economical issue at least have the backbone to take into account each states individual issues instead of mashing all states together. Sensationalism has its place as entertainment in the tabloids section of the news stand.

Talk about racism

I would have to agree with the authors post on the total lack of transparency and direct fairness this case represents. The author has covered the emotional issues with personal commentary and laid out a brief but concise amount of facts on Mr. Brown's case.

If we review current pro bono legal aid web sites they are stocked with horrible stories of justice not being color blind. I also agree that a judge should view a person before the bench as a human first regardless of race, creed, or color.

Great follow up point in the conclusion statement calling for some kind of review or censure of the judge. We are a nation based on laws and our justices should be held accountable to those same laws and the criminals that go before them. Would have been a great ending to have added some current follow up on the issues with Mr. Brown or with the judge.

State of the Texas Education System: Forced Serfdom with a Touch of Discrimination

Just wanted to set the tone of this article with a clear definition of the two descriptive words used in its title.

Serfdom:
1.
a person in a condition of servitude, required to render services to a lord, commonly attached to the lord's land and transferred with it from one owner to another.
2.
a slave.

Discrimination:

1.
an act or instance of discriminating.
2.
treatment or consideration of, or making a distinction in favor of or against, a person or thing based on the group, class, or category to which that person or thing belongs rather than on individual merit: racial and religious intolerance and discrimination.
3.
the power of making fine distinctions; discriminating judgment: She chose the colors with great discrimination.
4.
Archaic. something that serves to differentiate.




In the great state of Texas we have an education system that resembles that of a feudal caste system with regards to our teachers. When reviewed and matched up to other states Texas teachers receive some of the lowest pay and benefits with ever increasing expectations placed upon them. Rights of the students and the current train wreak called TAKS testing have further pushed the ranks of teachers to a new low. Tell me where in society do we have a specific group of state workers whose job impacts our states future and who are treated with such distain? Teachers no more........lets just call them educational serfs.

The lords in this diatribe would be the Texas state legislature and its spineless king Perry. Harsh words you say but lets review some of the issues at hand. As reported in an earlier blog entry, Governor Rick Perry vetoed some key funding that allowed simple merit raises and benefits within the state college systems. I am not going to get into the facts as they are listed below, but the bottom line was for political issues with total discrimination towards our teachers. Using the definition listed in line two for discrimination focused on the category of teachers. After an impressive grass roots upheaval the powers at be relented and even pushed for more funding. I personally have a foul taste in my mouth when we as an electorate allow politics to interfere with our educational system. My in-laws are retired state educational serfs. One from the college level and the other from the high school system. Both have advanced degrees and 30 plus years of experience that would equal or surpass a Director or VP position in a fortune 500 company. They devoted their lives to teaching us with the expected benefit of bettering others lives and in full knowledge that retirement would be hard.

Why then I ask you do we allow our elected legislature to continually meddle with the states educational system for political reasons............not educational?