Why the 'Texas Economic Miracle' is a Bunch of BS

[boutons_deux]

http://www.alternet.org/files/styles/story_image/public/story_images/texas_longhorn.jpg

As Longman explains, a lot of the “Texas Miracle” talk is based on simple misinformation. For one thing, a big part of Texas’ current stretch of growth is based on the same old boom-and-bust economics of the oil and gas industry that has always blessed and cursed the state, not anything attributable to state policies.

Outside the energy sector, are Americans really “voting with their feet” for the governing policies of Rick Perry by moving to the L??one Star State in vast numbers? Not exactly:

[A]ccording to Census Bureau data, 441,682 native-born Americans moved to Texas from other states between 2010 and 2011. Sounds like a lot. But moving (fleeing?) in the opposite direction were 358,048 other native-born Americans leaving Texas behind. That means that the net domestic migration of native-born Americans to Texas came to just 83,634, which in a nation of 315 million isn’t even background noise….



Net domestic migration to Texas peaked after Hurricane Katrina devastated Louisiana and Mississippi, and has been falling off ever since.



Moreover, those supposedly fleeing to refuge to Texas from godless socialist places like California aren’t actually experiencing relief from higher taxes, unless they are very wealthy:



Texas has sales and property taxes that make its overall burden of taxation on low-wage families much heavier than the national average, while the state also taxes the middle class at rates as high or higher than in California. For instance, non-elderly Californians with family income in the middle 20 percent of the income distribution pay combined state and local taxes amounting to 8.2 percent of their income, according to the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy; by contrast, their counterparts in Texas pay 8.6 percent.



And unlike in California, middle-class families in Texas don’t get the advantage of having rich people share equally in the cost of providing government services. The top 1 percent in Texas have an effective tax rate of just 3.2 percent. That’s roughly two-fifths the rate that’s borne by the middle class, and just a quarter the rate paid by all those low-wage “takers” at the bottom 20 percent of the family income distribution. This Robin-Hood-in-reverse system gives Texas the fifth-most-regressive tax structure in the nation.



Middle- and lower-income Texans in effect make up for the taxes the rich don’t pay in Texas by making do with fewer government services, such as by accepting a K-12 public school system that ranks behind forty-one other states, including Alabama, in spending per student.


Even businesses (if they aren’t large enough to feed from the state’s various corporate welfare troughs) don’t necessarily find Texas hospitable:

The business case for Texas does not speak for itself. It may be a great place to be a big oil or petrochemical company, or a politically favored large corporation able to wring out tax concessions. Its state laws are also hostile to unions, and its wage levels are generally lower than in much of the rest of the country. But for the vast majority of businesses, which are small and not politically connected, Texas doesn’t offer any tax advantages and is in many ways a harder place to do business. This is consistent with Census Bureau data showing that a smaller share of people in Texas own their own business than in all but four other states.


All in all, economic conditions in Texas are hardly miraculous:

The state may offer low housing prices compared to California and an unemployment rate below the national average, but it also has low rates of economic mobility, minimal public services, and, unless you are rich, taxes that are as high or higher than most anywhere else in America. And worse, despite all the oil money sloshing around, Texas is no longer gaining on the richest states in its per capita income, but rather getting comparatively poorer and poorer.

http://www.alternet.org/why-texas-economic-miracle-bunch-bull?akid=11562.187590.5BDdO-&rd=1&src=newsletter965373&t=2

So the TX Repugs have been bullshitting/lying to everybody all along?

[TeyshaBlue]

lol alternet.
cribs article from the progressive echo chamber.
Gets destroyed in the comment section of the source:

Regarding net domestic migration, you have to look at the long term trends, not just a one or two year snapshot. The Great Recession put many homeowners underwater and made it impossible for people to move, especially in the time period you cited. Rather, look at the prior decade. You'll see that California had a net domestic out migration of 2 million, the largest flow to Texas, while Texas had a net in migration of 800,000, the plurality being from California. Those numbers are significant.

As for per capita income, it's significantly tied to race and ethnicity. Vermont is monochromatic. Houston, in 2013, displaced New York as America's most diverse city. Maryland, of course, is a federal colony, its tiny economy dwarfed by the federal behemoth that that grown up on its doorstep and dumped billions of dollars into its economy. That said, Maryland's job growth has been anemic. Over a recent time period, Maryland gained 33,500 government jobs, while simultaneously losing 22,900 private-sector jobs. By comparison, Texas added 958,700 jobs—or 90 times more jobs than Maryland.

Lastly, you ignore completely the cost of living and its effect on purchasing power. New York's cost of living is about 40 percent higher than Texas' -- that has a huge impact on working families.

For this reason, the U.S. Census, in its new Supplemental Measure of Poverty which takes into account regional cost of living, the value of government benefits, and taxes, calculates California as having the nation's highest poverty rate -- proportionately 45 percent more people in poverty per capita than in Texas, which, at 16.4 percent, is within the margin of error of the national average of 16 percent.

[Nbadan]

TX...who knew you could save money by cutting 6 billion dollars from education...

[TeyshaBlue]

TX...who knew you could save money by cutting 6 billion dollars from education...

Surprised they stopped at 6. You can build a shit ton of toll roads with that stack.

[Drachen]

No, they should have just taken that cash and built a Pharma lab to make lethal injection drugs.

[DarrinS]

I see license plates from all over. I guess they're coming here for the BS.

[boutons_deux]

I see license plates from all over. I guess they're coming here for the BS.

yep, Darrin's anecdote trumps any statistics, as always.

[boutons_deux]

to pile on, TX ranks near the national bottom in K12 spending per student, while tax expenditures for business run about $20B/year.

Keeping TX kids dumb and "Christian" keeps them voting Repug.

[DarrinS]

If only we spent more on education :cry

http://www.edudemic.com/how-12-countries-spend-education-money-and-if-it-makes-a-difference/

[boutons_deux]

If only we spent more on education :cry

http://www.edudemic.com/how-12-countries-spend-education-money-and-if-it-makes-a-difference/

If K12 paid enough to attract, and retain, quality (highly educated) teachers, and enough was spent to keep class size small, there would be a difference.

Like there are ROTC full scholarships in return for x years of post-college service, the same should be available for K12 teachers.

Finland has a huge applicant:teacher ratio (aka HIGH demand by applicants for limited jobs) and gets fantastic, best-in-world results.

$100Bs of USA "education" expenses get wasted on non-academic stuff like sports teams, extra-curriculars, etc, whereas in Western Europe, K12, 8-12, is strictly academic.

I can't find it, but I bet the edudemic.com org, which seems to be site dedicated to trashing public education, is financed, directed by VRWC, corporate funds.

[TeyshaBlue]

to pile on, TX ranks near the national bottom in K12 spending per student, while tax expenditures for business run about $20B/year.

Keeping TX kids dumb and "Christian" keeps them voting Repug.

Probably about as accurate as that alternet (lol) article you posted.

[TeyshaBlue]

Edudemic is a tech blog that posts articles and studies that connect tech to the clasroom. Its not a VRWC funded site that destroys public education. Fuck. :facepalm

[boutons_deux]

Probably about as accurate as that alternet (lol) article you posted.

so the miraculous TX has the same poverty rate as US avg? miraculous? :lol

TX has the highest rate of uninsured residents in USA. miraculous? :lol

TX spending/student is near the USA bottom. miraculous? :lol

hyper-sunny TX also has a shitty record in rooftop solar

"But not so in Texas, where despite recent growth in hot beds like Austin and San Antonio, the technology remains largely remains on the fringe.

According to the Solar Energy Industries Association, Texas’ 107.5 megawatts of solar capacity is one of the lowest in the nation when sorted by population — Arizona’s per capita rate is estimated to be more than 30 times higher"

http://www.dallasnews.com/business/energy/20130527-despite-growth-texas-lags-far-behind-on-solar-energy.ece

My solar installer company said that SA has only about 1000 roof top solar installations, so how is SA a "hot bed". TX rooftop solar behind so far behind is directly caused by Repug govt policies enriching/protecting centralized energy suppliers. AZ has 30x TX installations, and that's with AZ power company trying to kill solar.

[TeyshaBlue]

Predictable goal post move. Back to your prgressive echo chamber.
lol alternet.

[TSA]

Finland has a huge applicant:teacher ratio (aka HIGH demand by applicants for limited jobs) and gets fantastic, best-in-world results.

Finland is ethnically homogenous, try again.

[boutons_deux]

Finland is ethnically homogenous, try again.

so you think it's mostly, or only black or brown people who drop out of HS or leave functionally illiterate and in need of a couple year of remedial work to get them up to college freshman level?

Finland also has strong social safety net so poverty isn't the excruciating, immobilizing disaster it is in USA.

[TSA]

so you think it's mostly, or only black or brown people who drop out of HS or leave functionally illiterate and in need of a couple year of remedial work to get them up to college freshman level?

Finland also has strong social safety net so poverty isn't the excruciating, immobilizing disaster it is in USA.

Black, brown, and red. I don't think I know.

http://www.ed.gov/blog/2013/01/high-school-graduation-rate-at-highest-level-in-three-decades/

[TeyshaBlue]

so you think it's mostly, or only black or brown people who drop out of HS or leave functionally illiterate and in need of a couple year of remedial work to get them up to college freshman level?

Finland also has strong social safety net so poverty isn't the excruciating, immobilizing disaster it is in USA.
Texas has a population 5× that of Finland. lol apples vs parachute pants.

[TSA]

Drop out % rate by race:

white 2.3
black 5.5
brown 5.0
red 6.7
yellow 1.9


edit: red 6.7

[Th'Pusher]

Drop out % rate by race:

white 2.3
black 5.5
brown 5.0
red 6.7
yellow 1.9


edit: red 6.7

Give me that same breakdown based on household income levels/socioeconomic divide and remove race from the mix. What do you think it would look like?

[The Reckoning]

so people aren't moving to texas? thank goodness.

[spurraider21]

:lmao spend more money to fix things!

http://articles.latimes.com/2013/oct/01/local/la-me-1002-lausd-ipads-20131002

a chicken in every pot, and an ipad in every student's hands :rollin

[TeyshaBlue]

so the miraculous TX has the same poverty rate as US avg? miraculous? :lol

TX has the highest rate of uninsured residents in USA. miraculous? :lol

TX spending/student is near the USA bottom. miraculous? :lol

hyper-sunny TX also has a shitty record

So, your cut and paste job was bullshit. Not miraculous....just par for the course. lol alternet..
We are the largest producer of wind energy in the nation. Funny how you never seem to mention that.

[TSA]

Give me that same breakdown based on household income levels/socioeconomic divide and remove race from the mix. What do you think it would look like?
I have no desire to tbh, I was simply responding to boutons ridiculous comparison of the US to Finland.

[Th'Pusher]

I have no desire to tbh, I was simply responding to boutons ridiculous comparison of the US to Finland.
Based solely on race. Are there no other factors you think need to be considered?

[pgardn]

There are too many kids in public school classrooms.

If a district hires MORE teachers that can actually get to all the students that would help.
But they cannot for lack of funding. No Child Left Behind again rears it's ugly head as some spec ed teachers have 5 students some of whom are dangerous, and the regular class is overloaded. This makes the avg. look ok.

Those Rep. that think funding is adequate for teaching manpower are sadly mistaken. In the Public schools in NISD in San Antonio, teachers AND administrators are severely over worked. This one of the fastest growing districts in the country and the largest in San Antonio.

[Nbadan]

Fuck the critics who don't know shit about education or about kids for that matter....you really gonna take kid raising advice from TSA and Darrin?.....Keeping the student to teacher ratio at less than 20 to 1 is optimal for learning....and there is a lot of money wasted in most school districts because of stupid laws and policies that politicians make, not school districts or teachers....for teacher haters it's easy to blame the low man on the tote-um pole....good, experienced teachers are retiring at record numbers because of stupid regulations and policies made up by politicians...

[spurraider21]

I do think that funding in some states needs a bump, but throwing money at a problem rarely fixes it. Funding has to be administered responsibly and efficiently, which many states have shown an inability to do. That doesn't mean we should reward their irresponsible spending with more funding.

[Nbadan]

I do think that funding in some states needs a bump, but throwing money at a problem rarely fixes it. Funding has to be administered responsibly and efficiently, which many states have shown an inability to do. That doesn't mean we should reward their irresponsible spending with more funding.

School districts have to spend money, right or wrong, to follow education policies put out by the TEA, otherwise they get sued....

[spurraider21]

School districts have to spend money, right or wrong, to follow education policies put out by the TEA, otherwise they get sued....
then perhaps a system overhaul is needed rather than throwing money at it

[Nbadan]

then perhaps a system overhaul is needed rather than throwing money at it

Good Luck with that....the politicians love the money train that comes with the power to setpolicy...

[pgardn]

Throwing money at reducing class's size... ?

Thats money that needs to be thrown.
Shit, let's just put 200 in a class and fill the auditorium.

[Nbadan]

Throwing money at reducing class's size... ?

Thats money that needs to be thrown.
Shit, let's just put 200 in a class and fill the auditorium.

Some classes in the North and Northeast districts have teacher to student ratios of 35 to 1....yeah, thats optimal for learning...

[spurraider21]

Throwing money at reducing class's size... ?

Thats money that needs to be thrown.
Shit, let's just put 200 in a class and fill the auditorium.
Perhaps they can divert money from their funding. Perhaps the outdated model of state pension needs to be revisited, and some of that money could be used to hire more active teachers. Again, its about efficiency with the money, not necessarily the final sum.

You can score more points while taking less shots in the NBA if you improve your efficiency.

[baseline bum]

:lmao spend more money to fix things!

http://articles.latimes.com/2013/oct/01/local/la-me-1002-lausd-ipads-20131002

a chicken in every pot, and an ipad in every student's hands :rollin

LOL, students get fucking 10" 64GB ipads in LA? Holy shit, that's the most retarded thing I have ever heard in education. Could have saved them a lot of money by just giving the students PS4s and one game instead.

[Nbadan]

Perhaps they can divert money from their funding. Perhaps the outdated model of state pension needs to be revisited, and some of that money could be used to hire more active teachers.

Pay retired teachers less than you promised them? You seriously think that is gonna attract good teachers...

:lol

[spurraider21]

Pay retired teachers less than you promised them? You seriously think that is gonna attract good teachers...

:lol
thats response is part of the problem. its an outdated system that is a financial strain on most states

[Nbadan]

LOL, students get fucking 10" ipads in LA? Holy shit, that's the most retarded thing I have ever heard in education. Could have saved them a lot of money by just giving the students PS4s and one game instead.

It's not the having the Ipad that is the problem....its that the state has no policies and limited resources for teachers to learn to use the IPads successfully in the classroom...so studies show that simply putting Ipads in classroom does not increase students scores on standardized tests...

[spurraider21]

LOL, students get fucking 10" 64GB ipads in LA? Holy shit, that's the most retarded thing I have ever heard in education. Could have saved them a lot of money by just giving the students PS4s and one game instead.
and they could have spent that money to lower the teacher:student ratio that everybody here is bitching about :cry

[spurraider21]

:lmao justifying the ipads

[Nbadan]

thats response is part of the problem. its an outdated system that is a financial strain on most states

No, raiding teacher pension funds and then not having the money or the will to pay it back puts a financial strain on most states...

[baseline bum]

and they could have spent that money to lower the teacher:student ratio that everybody here is bitching about :cry

:cry With that $678 per student they could have ordered each one a Papa Johns pizza for breakfast and for lunch every Monday, even in summer. :cry

[pgardn]

Perhaps they can divert money from their funding. Perhaps the outdated model of state pension needs to be revisited, and some of that money could be used to hire more active teachers. Again, its about efficiency with the money, not necessarily the final sum.

You can score more points while taking less shots in the NBA if you improve your efficiency.

Teachers are not State employees in Texas. They have a fairly pitiful fund compared to State employees. And no SS since they do have a pitiful fund. It's getting down to squeezing blood from a rock in fast growing districts.

[spurraider21]

No, raiding teacher pension funds and then not having the money or the will to pay it back puts a financial strain on most states...
not having to pay pensions and using that money for schools will help your precious teacher:student ratio

[spurraider21]

Teachers are not State employees. They have a fairly pitiful fund compared to State employees. It's getting down to squeezing blood from a rock in fast growing districts.
interesting. i know a local public school administrator that is actually going to get paid more once she retires, combining her pension (100% of her current pay) with social security. i guess it varies depending on your locale. here in LA where we blow money on student ipads, i guess its not as big an issue

[Nbadan]

not having to pay pensions and using that money for schools will help your precious teacher:student ratio

So your gonna take money from retired teachers to fund under-funded schools? Your a moron.

[spurraider21]

So your gonna take money from retired teachers to fund under-funded schools? Your a moron.
taking money from them? i'm not putting a bank levy on them :lol. reforming the pension system and diverting that money to fund schools is one way to go.

plenty of retirees do just fine with social security. but you pick the right employer and you get ridiculous pension figures which basically incentivize retirement.

[Wild Cobra]

taking money from them? i'm not putting a bank levy on them :lol. reforming the pension system and diverting that money to fund schools is one way to go.

plenty of retirees do just fine with social security. but you pick the right employer and you get ridiculous pension figures which basically incentivize retirement.
It is wrong to take away money given in a contract. The right move is to stop agreeing to such lucrative contracts.

[Nbadan]

taking money from them? i'm not putting a bank levy on them :lol. reforming the pension system and diverting that money to fund schools is one way to go.

plenty of retirees do just fine with social security. but you pick the right employer and you get ridiculous pension figures which basically incentivize retirement.

Teacher don't collect Social security in Texas, that's why they put money into the state pension fund....learn your policies before making irrational points on a public board...

[pgardn]

interesting. i know a local public school administrator that is actually going to get paid more once she retires, combining her pension (100% of her current pay) with social security. i guess it varies depending on your locale. here in LA where we blow money on student ipads, i guess its not as big an issue

Well it helps to understand the true nature of education in different States.

San Antonio teachers are more akin to clergy.

More money when she retires...? No Fkn way in this State. You better have a 403(b) in this State, if you have the money to put into it...

And yeah, no SS...

[baseline bum]

It's not the having the Ipad that is the problem....its that the state has no policies and limited resources for teachers to learn to use the IPads successfully in the classroom...so studies show that simply putting Ipads in classroom does not increase students scores on standardized tests...

The ipad is a stupid idea. Tablets are useful for four things:

1. Browsing the web
2. Social networking
3. Playing games
4. Reading ebooks

And 4 really only applies for pirated ebooks since legal ebooks usually aren't significantly cheaper than paper books. You can't write a research paper on an ipad. You can't program on an ipad. Why blow $678 a student on a toy instead of dropping, say $450 on a laptop that the student could actually do work on?

[Nbadan]

The right move is to stop agreeing to such lucrative contracts.

What lucrative contracts? Teachers don't get rich by teaching...

[Nbadan]

And 4 really only applies for pirated ebooks since legal ebooks usually aren't significantly cheaper than paper books. You can't write a research paper on an ipad. You can't program on an ipad. Why blow $678 a student on a toy instead of dropping, say $450 on a laptop that the student could actually do work on?

Your absolutely right Bum...I've been making this same argument to school districts for years...but for some reason, school districts think that Ipads are the shit...

[spurraider21]

I'm speaking from a California perspective, so my apologies if I am misspeaking. It should also be noted that Texas teachers who do not receive social security are also not paying into it. Perhaps that can be reformed. I'm not against education funding :lol. i also don't think increasing the amount on the check is going to fix education, and shouldn't be the first step in doing so

[pgardn]

There is some awfully bad info that people want to believe...

[pgardn]

I'm speaking from a California perspective, so my apologies if I am misspeaking. It should also be noted that Texas teachers who do not receive social security are also not paying into it. Perhaps that can be reformed. I'm not against education funding :lol. i also don't think increasing the amount on the check is going to fix education, and shouldn't be the first step in doing so

Writing more checks for more teachers is a must in this State.
This is not California...

Uhhh Texas teachers often do pay into SS, before they decide to become teachers. And the SS payment gets greatly reduced in most cases by Texas law.
And they do pay into Medicare.

[Nbadan]

I'm speaking from a California perspective, so my apologies if I am misspeaking. It should also be noted that Texas teachers who do not receive social security are also not paying into it. Perhaps that can be reformed. I'm not against education funding :lol. i also don't think increasing the amount on the check is going to fix education, and shouldn't be the first step in doing so

Your right on one account....the way money is spent in districts needs to be reformed and it can be used much more efficiently, but that reform has to come from the top, not the bottom...let's let experience teachers make education policies and not politicians, like they do in successful countries rich and poor around the word...

[Nbadan]

Writing more checks for more teachers is a must in this State.
This is not California...

Teacher starting pay is about 45K in most districts, that's not the problem...the problem is that 10 years later, that same more-experienced teacher is still only making less than 50K, twenty years later less than 55K....would you stay in a professional business were the money is so pitiful in your more experience years?

[Wild Cobra]

Teacher starting pay is about 45K in most districts, that's not the problem...the problem is that 10 years later, that same more-experienced teacher is still only making less than 50K, twenty years later less than 55K....would you stay in a professional business were the money is so pitiful in your more experience years?
Blame the unions for that. Good an bad teachers both are on the same pay scale.

[pgardn]

Teacher starting pay is about 45K in most districts, that's not the problem...the problem is that 10 years later, that same more-experienced teacher is still only making less than 50K, twenty years later less than 55K....would you stay in a professional business were the money is so pitiful in your more experience years?

I did not say it's the problem.

The problem is more teachers. People don't stay teachers. Most are gone after 3 years. The positions don't get refilled because fast growing districts like NISD can't hire them.

[pgardn]

Blame the unions for that. Good an bad teachers both are on the same pay scale.

The Teachers Associations in Texas are extraordinarily weak.
They have never and will not strike. It's illegal.
They are not true unions.

Jesus, the misunderstanding of education in Texas is rampant.

[Nbadan]

Blame the unions for that. Good an bad teachers both are on the same pay scale.

I support an incentive system that rewards good teachers with bonuses...but the system of measurement has to come over a period of time not just in one year...any teacher can have a bad year or two because of bad students not bad teaching...

[Wild Cobra]

The Teachers Associations in Texas are extraordinarily weak.
They have never and will not strike. It's illegal.
They are not true unions.

Jesus, the misunderstanding of education in Texas is rampant.
Regardless, do you think it's correct to pay them all, good and bad, on the same pay scale based on seniority?

[Nbadan]

The Teachers Associations in Texas are extraordinarily weak.
They have never and will not strike. It's illegal.
They are not true unions.

Jesus, the misunderstanding of education in Texas is rampant.

Well, he's not in Texas, but yeah, the misinformation in education policy is horrible...much easier to blame teachers...

[pgardn]

Good an bad teachers both are on the same pay scale.

This is not true either.
Teachers were rated and those considered exemplary got as much as 3000 dollars more a year. But the State took the funding away. Some teachers got grandfathered but most of them are retired. Now there is no difference.

Christ it continues... This is seriously bad stuff. The uninformed just typing off the cuff.

[Nbadan]

Regardless, do you think it's correct to pay them all, good and bad, on the same pay scale based on seniority?

Most companies do that....your living back in the 80's...today, teachers are evaluated every year and if they are ineffective in the classroomthey are not resigned to a new contract...

[Wild Cobra]

This is not true either.
Teachers were rated and those considered exemplary got as much as 3000 dollars more a year. But the State took the funding away. Some teachers got grandfathered but most of them are retired. Now there is no difference.

Christ it continues... This is seriously bad stuff. The uninformed just typing off the cuff.
You disagree then you agree...

[vy65]

So your gonna take money from retired teachers to fund under-funded schools? Your a moron.

Some nice irony there.

[Nbadan]

Some nice irony there.

grammar check bitch....

[vy65]

I think it'd behoove you to use proper English when waxing poetic about education reform. That is unless you're trying to performatively make your point.

[pgardn]

You disagree then you agree...

No.

You are just wrong. There were incentives. Now they are gone.
And there never have been Real Unions in Texas.

What about this do you not understand?

[Nbadan]

I think it'd behoove you to use proper English when waxing poetic about education reform. That is unless you're trying to performatively make your point.

I'm in my PJs too and not in a suit....what you got on education?

[Wild Cobra]

No.

You are just wrong. There were incentives. Now they are gone.
And there never have been Real Unions in Texas.

What about this do you not understand?
You are right in that I don't know the specifics. However, every time I have seen a state attempt to add merit pay to teachers, it was the unions that caused it to never happen. You see the same thing in other industries.

Is merit pay available now, or just the grandfathered teachers?

Why did it stop? I'll bet if you research the facts, you find the unions stopped it...

[vy65]

What do I have on education?

[Nbadan]

What about this do you not understand?

....the part that starts with not blaming the teachers and unions


:lol

[Nbadan]

What do I have on education?

like I said....pompous bitch...

[pgardn]

You are right in that I don't know the specifics. However, every time I have seen a state attempt to add merit pay to teachers, it was the unions that caused it to never happen. You see the same thing in other industries.

Is merit pay available now, or just the grandfathered teachers?

Why did it stop? I'll bet if you research the facts, you find the unions stopped it...

There are NO unions. Unions can strike.
No the State took it away because they got tired of paying for it. The teachers associations battled it and finally succumbed to just allowing teachers already exemplary to keep the extra pay IF they continued to remain exemplary. The incentive was scraped BUT the rating system REMAINED.

I think you are the one that needs to research.

The State of Texas at one time payed over 50% of teachers salaries. It has steadily decreased and now it's under 30%. Yet the State still has all the control over how the districts use property tax to fund education. And the fast growing districts are at a huge disadvantage.

You really are out of your league here. Mainly because you thought California was run like Texas.

[pgardn]

....the part that starts with not blaming the teachers and unions


:lol

No kidding.
Preconceived facts have just altered reality.

[Nbadan]

No kidding.
Preconceived facts have just altered reality.

the way WC hates Unions...you would think that a union ran off with his wife or something...

[Nbadan]

Yet the State still has all the control over how the districts use property tax to fund education. And the fast growing districts are at a huge disadvantage.

..charter school don't have to follow state policy and they get better quality students, but unless they are highly specialized schools like a math and science academy that only accepts 'pre-qualified students' (i.e...students who can make the grade), they don't do much better at educating kids than a quality public school..

[Wild Cobra]

the way WC hates Unions...you would think that a union ran off with his wife or something...
I don't hate unions as much as I dislike how they have evolved. They were once important and di good for this nation. Now they protect workers that should be fired, and enforce that everyone... good and bad as employees... be treated equally.

I prefer individual bargaining, where I can get 50% more than the average person in my field.

[Nbadan]

I prefer individual bargaining, where I can get 50% more than the average person in my field.

I'm not gonna disagree with you there...if you want quality teachers you have to pay them more than average teachers, but there has to be some base-line for all teacher pay and in a way, there is..it's set by the market..that's why more experienced teachers work for better districts in SA...they pay more...trouble is, poorer students in poorer districts need those experienced teachers the most...but they typically get the 5 years or less teachers....

[TSA]

Based solely on race. Are there no other factors you think need to be considered?

Not to answer his question, which was based solely on race.

[boutons_deux]

so where is the Texas Economic Miracle? TX is like a bunch of Arabs profiting from oil and gas. CA has/had a bunch of oil, but CA has actually created $Ts in wealth beyond oil. Texas? nah

Repugs love to hate LBJ, but he was the ONLY reason NASA setup in Houston rather than FL.

[TeyshaBlue]

so where is the Texas Economic Miracle? TX is like a bunch of Arabs profiting from oil and gas. CA has/had a bunch of oil, but CA has actually created $Ts in wealth beyond oil. Texas? nah

Repugs love to hate LBJ, but he was the ONLY reason NASA setup in Houston rather than FL.

lol. Tx ranks #1 in cattle and #2 in total agriculture. Leading producer of cotton in the nation. Now #2 and climbing in manufacturing.
But keep trying. Your irrational cluelessness is amusing.:lol

[Dirk Oneanddoneski]

Great article boutons please share it with as many fags, be@ners, n¡ggers, libtards, and kikes you can

[pgardn]

Great article boutons please share it with as many fags, be@ners, n¡ggers, libtards, and kikes you can

So the KKK is not interested...

[boutons_deux]

lol. Tx ranks #1 in cattle and #2 in total agriculture. Leading producer of cotton in the nation. Now #2 and climbing in manufacturing.
But keep trying. Your irrational cluelessness is amusing.:lol

all low-tech ag, threatened by climate change, water scarcity, esp the coastal cotton :lol

a petro-state and a bunch of fucking farmers and ranchers, big fucking deal

[boutons_deux]

The Bigger-est thing about TX is all the wannabe pot-bellied Macho Men piling their self-glorifying bullshit high and wide.

[TeyshaBlue]

The Bigger-est thing about TX is all the wannabe pot-bellied Macho Men piling their self-glorifying bullshit high and wide.

Which is exactly what you're doing.:lol

[TeyshaBlue]

all low-tech ag, threatened by climate change, water scarcity, esp the coastal cotton :lol

a petro-state and a bunch of fucking farmers and ranchers, big fucking deal
lol simpleton.

[baseline bum]

Your absolutely right Bum...I've been making this same argument to school districts for years...but for some reason, school districts think that Ipads are the shit...

I mean what are they seeing out of ipads? I mean they're great pieces of hardware for what they do well, but so far the only logical explanation I could even think up is that they're getting bribed by Apple and don't think they could squeeze enough money out of taxpayers for Macbook Airs instead.

[TSA]

I mean what are they seeing out of ipads? I mean they're great pieces of hardware for what they do well, but so far the only logical explanation I could even think up is that they're getting bribed by Apple and don't think they could squeeze enough money out of taxpayers for Macbook Airs instead.

Yeah it's a fucking joke.

http://appleinsider.com/articles/14/01/15/los-angeles-school-district-earmarks-115m-for-additiional-ipads

According to a report from the Los Angeles Times, the decision lifts a cap on the number of iPads L.A. Unified can procure as part of standardized testing scheduled for this spring.

In voting for the $115 million proposal, the board sided with schools Superintendent John Deasy, who has championed the iPad effort since its inception in July 2013. An oversight panel advised against the large tablet buy, recommending 38,500 units would be more than enough for the district's purposes. School staff requested 67,500 iPads, but the final number will be somewhere in between, the board said.

"The whole point of this program is to revolutionize instruction," said board member Marcia Garcia said. She added that students from low-income households may not have access "to what is a part of all our worlds today. I don't understand how cutting back what's good is good for kids."

L.A. Unified is in the midst of a $1 billion push to upgrade its curriculum from books to digital media. An integral part of the plan is to equip 640,000 students with iPads, each priced at $768 including support infrastructure. The high-tech rollout will account for all technology funds allotted through school construction bonds.

The program has seen a fair share of problems over the past months, however. In September, students founds a way to bypass school-installed security restrictions, allowing them access to websites like YouTube and Facebook. The incident prompted the repossession of iPads from at least two area schools.

Later in October, confusion over Apple's bulk purchase discount led to reports that the project was over budget. LAUSD first pegged each tablet as costing $678, but it was later confirmed the actual price was closer to $770. As per Apple's arrangement, the quoted $678 kicks in only after the district spends $400 million, worth 520,000 iPads.

As for the future of L.A. Unified's tech initiative, Deasy said Apple has agreed to supply the latest iPad hardware at no extra charge. Previously, contract terms had the district paying a premium price for legacy tablets.

In addition, LAUSD is attempting to negotiate a deal for iPads used specifically for testing. The tablets would come without the usual built-in digital curriculum developed by Pearson in exchange for a $200 to $300 price cut. Testing packages would also not include Apple TV units, which are now supplied to each classroom as part of the original contract.

[baseline bum]

Yeah it's a fucking joke.

http://appleinsider.com/articles/14/01/15/los-angeles-school-district-earmarks-115m-for-additiional-ipads

According to a report from the Los Angeles Times, the decision lifts a cap on the number of iPads L.A. Unified can procure as part of standardized testing scheduled for this spring.

In voting for the $115 million proposal, the board sided with schools Superintendent John Deasy, who has championed the iPad effort since its inception in July 2013. An oversight panel advised against the large tablet buy, recommending 38,500 units would be more than enough for the district's purposes. School staff requested 67,500 iPads, but the final number will be somewhere in between, the board said.

"The whole point of this program is to revolutionize instruction," said board member Marcia Garcia said. She added that students from low-income households may not have access "to what is a part of all our worlds today. I don't understand how cutting back what's good is good for kids."

L.A. Unified is in the midst of a $1 billion push to upgrade its curriculum from books to digital media. An integral part of the plan is to equip 640,000 students with iPads, each priced at $768 including support infrastructure. The high-tech rollout will account for all technology funds allotted through school construction bonds.

The program has seen a fair share of problems over the past months, however. In September, students founds a way to bypass school-installed security restrictions, allowing them access to websites like YouTube and Facebook. The incident prompted the repossession of iPads from at least two area schools.

Later in October, confusion over Apple's bulk purchase discount led to reports that the project was over budget. LAUSD first pegged each tablet as costing $678, but it was later confirmed the actual price was closer to $770. As per Apple's arrangement, the quoted $678 kicks in only after the district spends $400 million, worth 520,000 iPads.

As for the future of L.A. Unified's tech initiative, Deasy said Apple has agreed to supply the latest iPad hardware at no extra charge. Previously, contract terms had the district paying a premium price for legacy tablets.

In addition, LAUSD is attempting to negotiate a deal for iPads used specifically for testing. The tablets would come without the usual built-in digital curriculum developed by Pearson in exchange for a $200 to $300 price cut. Testing packages would also not include Apple TV units, which are now supplied to each classroom as part of the original contract.

Makes no motherfucking sense since parasites like Pearson and McGraw-Hill aren't going to charge them much less for their shitty texts in ebook format. I don't see what is revolutionary at all about reading your book on a tablet. Teacher, my book isn't charged so I can't do my work in class. And why buy the fucking top of the line 10" ipads? You can read an ebook great on a Google Nexus 7 for less than 1/3 of the price if you're absolutely committed to tablets for whatever stupid reason.

[leemajors]

Makes no motherfucking sense since parasites like Pearson and McGraw-Hill aren't going to charge them much less for their shitty texts in ebook format. I don't see what is revolutionary at all about reading your book on a tablet. Teacher, my book isn't charged so I can't do my work in class. And why buy the fucking top of the line 10" ipads? You can read an ebook great on a Google Nexus 7 for less than 1/3 of the price if you're absolutely committed to tablets for whatever stupid reason.

I would be shocked if they were actually billed anywhere near $700 per iPad by Apple with the volume discount they get - from what I remember a large Apple Service Provider LAUSD contracts with makes all their purchases and sets up their repairs for them (can't remember the name). LAUSD rarely had new equipment when they called in/emailed for repairs, and I think they got 4 years no questions asked service contracts and a 48 hour turn around time. Easiest calls I ever took tbh, the only thing that sucked was logging the repairs in their ancient creaky database by school.

edit: TAT

[RandomGuy]

Finland is ethnically homogenous, try again.

Evidence/simplification fail.

If you really ask them, and they study their education system more than anyone else, they will tell you it is the talent they attract and keep.

If you like I can recommend some rather good books on the subject.

http://www.amazon.com/Finnish-Lessons-Educational-Change-Finland/dp/1470826151


Finnish Lessons is a firsthand, comprehensive account of how Finland built a world-class education system over the past three decades. The author traces the evolution of education policies in Finland and highlights how they differ from those in the United States and other industrialized countries. Rather than relying on competition, school choice, and external testing of students, education reforms in Finland focus on professionalizing teachers' work, developing instructional leadership in schools, and enhancing trust in teachers and schools. This book details the complexity of educational change and encourages educators and policy makers to develop effective solutions for their own districts and schools.

[TeyshaBlue]

Evidence/simplification fail.

If you really ask them, and they study their education system more than anyone else, they will tell you it is the talent they attract and keep.

If you like I can recommend some rather good books on the subject.

http://www.amazon.com/Finnish-Lessons-Educational-Change-Finland/dp/1470826151

That looks like a good read, RG. Thanks dude.:toast

[DarrinS]

Finnish Lessons is a firsthand, comprehensive account of how Finland built a world-class education system over the past three decades. The author traces the evolution of education policies in Finland and highlights how they differ from those in the United States and other industrialized countries. Rather than relying on competition, school choice, and external testing of students, education reforms in Finland focus on professionalizing teachers' work, developing instructional leadership in schools, and enhancing trust in teachers and schools. This book details the complexity of educational change and encourages educators and policy makers to develop effective solutions for their own districts and schools.




as opposed to



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=baM8N24K8kE

[Nbadan]

Private voucher funded school runs away with taxpayer money.


"A small private school participating in the Milwaukee Parental Choice Program abruptly closed in the middle of December, but not before collecting more than $200,000 from taxpayers this academic year to educate students who now attend other schools, state officials confirmed.

LifeSkills Academy, a K-8 school that had dwindled to 66 students, appears to have closed around Dec. 12, according to a letter sent to the school from the Department of Public Instruction.

All Saints Catholic Church owns the building that LifeSkills rented at 3434 N. 38th St.

"They moved out, as people say, in the dead of the night," Father Carl Diederichs of All Saints said."

http://www.jsonline.com/news/education/milwaukee-voucher-school-closes-in-the-dead-of-the-night-b99183859z1-240125681.html

[boutons_deux]

from 2011:

But instead of speculating, let's look at the data. The Lookout used jobs data compiled by the Department of Labor to determine which industries have gained jobs in Texas since June 2009. Here's what we found:

• Roughly 39,000 out of the 302,000 new jobs created in Texas since the recovery began -- or 13 percent -- were in government. And 82 percent of those new government jobs were in local government. Texas's public sector has expanded by more than 2 percent in the past two years -- very nearly as fast as its private sector.

• Another 39,500 -- just over 13 percent -- were in oil and gas extraction, or in support activities for mining, a category that includes oil-field services companies.

• Even more -- 78,000, or 26 percent -- were in home health-care services or "ambulatory health-care services," while an additional 64,000, or 21 percent, were in "administrative and support services". Another 43,000, or 14 percent, were in "employment services."

• And 24,000, or 7.9 percent, were in "food services and drinking places" -- restaurants and bars, essentially.

Together, those categories account for nearly 95 percent of the new jobs created in Texas.

The manufacturing sector, which nationwide has seen renewed growth in recent years (http://news.yahoo.com/blogs/lookout/jobs-scene-manufacturing-prospects-picking-midwest-172504627.html), has lost 1,800 jobs in Texas over the same period.

These numbers complicate Perry's story of a free-market paradise in the Lone Star State.

http://news.yahoo.com/blogs/lookout/texas-job-boom-under-perry-driven-government-energy-174054077.html

govt employment is GROWING in TX ? :lol

Has anybody told the small-govt Texian Tea Baggers? :lol

[DarrinS]

Texas does have a lot of things for a flaming liberal to hate, so I can understand boutons' bitterness when our state is thriving.

[TeyshaBlue]

:lolIt took you that long to find a 3 year old report with 5 year old data?
When you have a population increase like Texas did in this antique "analysis", govt services also grow. Guess that's news to echo chamber prisoners like you.:lmao

[TeyshaBlue]

all low-tech ag, threatened by climate change, water scarcity, esp the coastal cotton :lol

a petro-state and a bunch of fucking farmers and ranchers, big fucking deal

*Enlightened Progressive Post*
Those, dirty, dirty peasants!:lmao:lmao:lmao

[RandomGuy]

That looks like a good read, RG. Thanks dude.:toast

No problem. Can't take credit for it, it was recommended to wife by her professors. I just thought it interesting enough to read, as education and evidence are two things I like to accumulate. :)

[SnakeBoy]

Evidence/simplification fail.

If you really ask them, and they study their education system more than anyone else, they will tell you it is the talent they attract and keep.


Maybe not...

http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_-EMpadQx4hM/TRKVzaSdWnI/AAAAAAAAAYs/26q8mk1dT3M/s1600/PISA.jpg

http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_-EMpadQx4hM/TRKZ5kB-49I/AAAAAAAAAY8/c_2n4vdbkPk/s1600/immigrant.jpg

http://super-economy.blogspot.co.nz/2010/12/amazing-truth-about-pisa-scores-usa.html

[Jacob1983]

Isn't Texas the most liberal state in the south? You can't count Florida because Florida is a piece of shit and a sorry excuse for a state.

[boutons_deux]

Isn't Texas the most liberal state in the south? You can't count Florida because Florida is a piece of shit and a sorry excuse for a state.

San Antonio, Austin, Houston, even Dallas are all blue, only Fort Worth as a major city is still red.

[boutons_deux]

the "health" of the bullshit Texas miracle

http://graphics.latimes.com/healthcare-disparity/

[TeyshaBlue]

Yeah.Kalifornia is really kicking ass.

[boutons_deux]

Yeah.Kalifornia is really kicking ass.
Tb! :lol. Moving. The goalposts


Tx is a miracle. Because Cali sucks more :lol

[TeyshaBlue]

Not really. Tx faces some challenges in healthcare. Still doesnt negate the point that your asinine OP was pure bullshit...per par.

[TeyshaBlue]

But why should you care about a bunch of fucking farmers and ranchers?:lmao

[boutons_deux]

But why should you care about a bunch of fucking farmers and ranchers?:lmao

their welfare? I don't care.

But they are very important because they keep (fucking themselves by ) electing TX Repug assholes like Gohmert, Cruz, Abbot, RickyBobby.

[TeyshaBlue]

their welfare? I don't care. .

Of course you don't. *Enlightened progressive post*

[z0sa]

Boutons you should feel bad tbh

[boutons_deux]

Of course you don't. *Enlightened progressive post*

If they want to be conned into playing Repug/VRWC/tea bagger 3-card-monte of god-guns-gays while getting their pockets picked, I don't GAF for them, but they fuck it up for us non-conned.

[z0sa]

Boutons, nonconned, ohhhh you so funny.

[RandomGuy]

Maybe not...

http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_-EMpadQx4hM/TRKVzaSdWnI/AAAAAAAAAYs/26q8mk1dT3M/s1600/PISA.jpg

http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_-EMpadQx4hM/TRKZ5kB-49I/AAAAAAAAAY8/c_2n4vdbkPk/s1600/immigrant.jpg

http://super-economy.blogspot.co.nz/2010/12/amazing-truth-about-pisa-scores-usa.html

That only really addresses, or attempt to address, scores on how the systems deal with immigrants. The US has a bit of an advantage, as we have more experience.

I was simply talking about how the overall average of Finland is so markedly better than anyone elses.

Honestly, I have always suspected somehow that the US educational system was a bit better than test scores seem to indicate, it was a good read.



Libertarians in the United States have often claimed that the public school system (which has more than 90% of the students) is a disaster. They blame this on government control and on teachers unions. However, it is completely unfair to demand that a public school in southern California where most of the students are recent immigrants from Mexico whose parents have no experience in higher education (only 4% of all Mexican immigrates have a college degree, compared to over 50% of Indian immigrants) should perform as well as a private school in Silicon Valley.

The libertarians have no answer why European and Asian countries that also have public school systems score higher than the United States (unadjusted for demography). Top scoring Finland has strong teacher unions, just as California.

[Nbadan]

Oops: The Texas Miracle That Isn’t

Conservatives say the Lone Star state’s recent record of growth validates their economic agenda. That record crumbles upon inspection.


For example, according to Census Bureau data, 441,682 native-born Americans moved to Texas from other states between 2010 and 2011. Sounds like a lot. But moving (fleeing?) in the opposite direction were 358,048 other native-born Americans leaving Texas behind. That means that the net domestic migration of native-born Americans to Texas came to just 83,634, which in a nation of 315 million isn’t even background noise. It’s the demographic equivalent of, say, the town of Lawrence, Kansas, or Germantown, Maryland, “voting with its feet” and moving to Texas while the rest of America stays put.

And despite all the gloating by Texas boosters about how the state attracts huge numbers of Americans fleeing California socialism, the numbers don’t bear out this narrative either. In 2012, 62,702 people moved from California to Texas, but 43,005 moved from Texas to California, for a net migration of just 19,697. That’s a population flow amounting to the movement of one village in a continental nation. Far from proving the merits of the so-called Texas model, it shows just how few Californians have seen fit to set out for the Lone Star State, despite California’s high cost of housing and other very real problems. The same is true for all but a handful of Americans living in other states. Net domestic migration to Texas peaked after Hurricane Katrina devastated Louisiana and Mississippi, and has been falling off ever since.

This comparatively low level of net domestic migration to Texas is consistent with another little-appreciated fact that runs counter to the conservative narrative about the Texas Miracle. It is that, for most Americans, as well as for most businesses, moving to Texas would not mean paying less in taxes, and for many it would mean paying more.

Oh yes, I know what you’ve heard. And it’s true, as the state’s boosters like to brag, that Texas does not have an income tax. But Texas has sales and property taxes that make its overall burden of taxation on low-wage families much heavier than the national average, while the state also taxes the middle class at rates as high or higher than in California. For instance, non-elderly Californians with family income in the middle 20 percent of the income distribution pay combined state and local taxes amounting to 8.2 percent of their income, according to the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy; by contrast, their counterparts in Texas pay 8.6 percent.

And unlike in California, middle-class families in Texas don’t get the advantage of having rich people share equally in the cost of providing government services. The top 1 percent in Texas have an effective tax rate of just 3.2 percent. That’s roughly two-fifths the rate that’s borne by the middle class, and just a quarter the rate paid by all those low-wage “takers” at the bottom 20 percent of the family income distribution. This Robin-Hood-in-reverse system gives Texas the fifth-most-regressive tax structure in the nation.

Middle- and lower-income Texans in effect make up for the taxes the rich don’t pay in Texas by making do with fewer government services, such as by accepting a K-12 public school system that ranks behind forty-one other states, including Alabama, in spending per student.

Moving a business to Texas also turns out to have tax consequences that are inconsistent with the conservative narrative of the Texas Miracle. Yes, some businesses manage to strike lucrative tax breaks in Texas. As part of an industrial policy that dares not speak its name, the state government, for example, maintains the Texas Enterprise Fund (known to some as a slush fund and to others as a “deal-closing” fund), which the governor uses to lure favored businesses with special subsidies and incentives.

But most Texas businesses, especially small ones, don’t get such treatment. Instead, they face total effective tax rates that are, by bottom-line measures, greater than those in even the People’s Republic of California. For example, according to a joint study by the accounting firm Ernst & Young and the Council on State Taxation, in fiscal year 2012 state and local business taxes in California came to 4.5 percent of private-sector gross state product. This compares with a 4.8 percent average for all fifty states—and a rate of 5.2 percent in Texas. With the exception of New York, every major state in the country, including New Jersey, Massachusetts, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Michigan, Indiana, Illinois, Wisconsin, and Minnesota, has a lower total effective business tax rate than Texas. If you think that means Texas might not offer as much “liberty” as advertised, well, you’re right.

The same study compares how much businesses in different states pay in taxes for every dollar they get back in government-provided benefits. Using methodology developed by the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago, the study first allocates public spending between households and businesses. Certain expenditures, such as for health care and welfare, are treated as benefiting only households; others, such as for police, fire, and highway transportation, are treated as benefiting businesses as well. The big question mark here is how to treat education spending, since businesses differ in how much education they require from their workers. But regardless of how that allocation is made, California businesses as a whole still get a far better deal on their taxes than those in Texas.

For example, under the assumption that spending on education benefits only households and not businesses, California businesses pay $2.30 in taxes for every dollar they get in benefits, while Texas businesses pay $5. By this measure, Texas is the ninth-worst state in the country in the cost/benefit ratio it offers businesses on their taxes. Assuming that 50 percent of education spending benefits business, California businesses pay $1 in taxes for every dollar they get in benefits, while Texas business pay $1.50. Either way, it’s no wonder that Texas’s economic development efforts rely so heavily on (largely false) advertising.

The business case for Texas does not speak for itself. It may be a great place to be a big oil or petrochemical company, or a politically favored large corporation able to wring out tax concessions. Its state laws are also hostile to unions, and its wage levels are generally lower than in much of the rest of the country. But for the vast majority of businesses, which are small and not politically connected, Texas doesn’t offer any tax advantages and is in many ways a harder place to do business. This is consistent with Census Bureau data showing that a smaller share of people in Texas own their own business than in all but four other states

http://www.washingtonmonthly.com/magazine/march_april_may_2014/features/oops_the_texas_miracle_that_is049289.php?page=all

[TeyshaBlue]

lol nbadan fail. Thanks for reposting the the OP....you know the one you in the thread you didnt read. Good job.:lmao

[boutons_deux]

RickyBobby going around bullshitting other states that TX is better than them is a truly stupid way to run for President.

TX is full of bullshit and bullshitters.

[pgardn]

It is better in a very fortunate way that Ricky had nothing to do with.

Vast agriculture areas, huge oil and gas reserves, Top research institutes that spawn businesses around them in Austin, Houston, Dallas. San Antonio has the Medical Center that is trying to match Houston's.

And people want to visit. Go figure...

[Nbadan]

lol nbadan fail. Thanks for reposting the the OP....you know the one you in the thread you didnt read. Good job.:lmao

It's not the same article idiot....

[TeyshaBlue]

It's not the same article idiot....
Learn to read, junior. Its the same fucking link thats in the OP.
Fuck. :facepalm
From the OP:
http://www.washingtonmonthly.com/magazine/march_april_may_2014/features/oops_the_texas_miracle_that_is049289.php

From your post:
http://www.washingtonmonthly.com/magazine/march_april_may_2014/features/oops_the_texas_miracle_that_is049289.php

[TeyshaBlue]

Now read the comments where the asinine piece was destroyed...or do you need a grownup to help you with this?

[Nbadan]

Learn to read, junior. Its the same fucking link thats in the OP.
Fuck. :facepalm
From the OP:
http://www.washingtonmonthly.com/magazine/march_april_may_2014/features/oops_the_texas_miracle_that_is049289.php

From your post:
http://www.washingtonmonthly.com/magazine/march_april_may_2014/features/oops_the_texas_miracle_that_is049289.php

same link does not equate to the same article Junior...the article that Boutons posted is a small synapsis of the full article posted in Washington Monthly...

[Nbadan]

real boutons Op link....

http://www.alternet.org/why-texas-ec...tter965373&t=2

:rolleyes

[TeyshaBlue]

Unlike you, I read links and the comments. You should give it a try.

[TeyshaBlue]

The article is linked in the alternet "piece". But continue to double down on stupid. It makes me giggle.:lmao

[Nbadan]

Comments are like assholes...every forum has one..

[TeyshaBlue]

lol nbadan.
lol alternet.

[Nbadan]

lol TeyshaBlue


Your so wing-nut now your no longer objective...sad really...

[TeyshaBlue]

Objective enough to read links from alternet and follow the source links. Again, you should give it at try. That you cant be bothered to read the comments if they dont say what you want them to say....sad really.

[Nbadan]

Yeah....objective enough to know that the Texas Economic Miracle is hardly a miracle and has so far failed to benefit the People of the State of Texas equally ...whatever your bullshit links say...

[TeyshaBlue]

lol. I didnt post any links just a comment from the comment section....*hint*...the comments are below the article.
Your facesave dismount is hilarious tho.

[SupremeGuy]

Well, the libs sure got their shit pushed in this thread... but that was probably by design since they're into that kind of faggotry. :lol

[Nbadan]

Well, the libs sure got their shit pushed in this thread... but that was probably by design since they're into that kind of faggotry. :lol

Faggotry? Sounds gay to me!

[boutons_deux]

Well, the libs sure got their shit pushed in this thread... but that was probably by design since they're into that kind of faggotry. :lol

only in your wishful imagination. bullshitter RickyBobby is spewing bullshit, like a good Repug, with no chance to be the Repug candidate. TX taxpayers getting stuck with his bogus "business" trips around the country and planet.

[boutons_deux]

The Texas-California Job Growth Derby

In recent months conservatives have been boasting about the strong job growth of red state Texas compared to the much weaker job growth of blue state California. They use this comparison to promote their line that low taxes and pro-business regulations are the key to low unemployment and prosperity. It's worth taking a closer look.

First, the story is not simply one of Texas growth being driven by oil and gas, although its abundance of energy is clearly a factor. Using the business cycle peak in December of 1981 as a start point, employment has grown by 77.9 percent in Texas compared to just 59.0 percent in California.

The 1981 start point is a good base of comparison because it was also a period when high energy prices were helping to drive the Texas economy. This means that we are picking up the growth between two energy booms. If instead we looked at the growth between the 1981 business cycle peak the 2000 business cycle peak, a period of low energy prices, California narrowly wins the job growth prize, 48.6 percent to 47.1 percent.

In this sense Texas is a bit like an OPEC country, clearly energy prices are an extremely important factor to its economy. But energy prices are not the whole story, and neither are low taxes and pro-business regulations.

The most obvious difference that would hit anyone comparing California and Texas is the enormous difference in housing costs. To take a couple of examples on the rental side according to the Department of Housing and Urban Development the fair market rent for a two-bedroom apartment in Los Angeles County (http://www.huduser.org/portal/datasets/fmr/fmr_il_history/data_summary.odn) is $1,398 a month. In Harris County (http://www.huduser.org/portal/datasets/fmr/fmr_il_history/data_summary.odn), Texas, which includes Houston, it's just $926 a month. The fair market rent for a two-bedroom apartment in Santa Clara County (http://www.huduser.org/portal/datasets/fmr/fmr_il_history/data_summary.odn), which includes San Jose, is $1,649 a month. It was just $894 in Dallas County (http://www.huduser.org/portal/datasets/fmr/fmr_il_history/history_fmr.odn?inputname=METRO19100M19100*Dallas% 20County%2B4811399999&county_select=yes&statename=Texas&statefp=48&stusab=TX&fmr_year=2014&il_year=2014&area_choice=county) in 2010, the most recent year available.

Home sale prices show the same story. According to CoreLogic (http://cgi.money.cnn.com/tools/homepricedata/), the median house price in Los Angeles is $456,000. This compares to a median price of $187,000 in Houston. There is a similar story for other cities across the state.

This enormous gap in housing costs has certainly made a difference in the pace of job growth in the two states. A person working full-time at the national median wage median wage (at $17 an hour) earning $2,720 a month before taxes, could afford a two-bedroom apartment in Texas and could even buy a home. That would not be true in much of California.

The difference in housing prices is explained by differences in regulatory decisions. California has sharply restricted construction in most areas. As a result, the Census Bureau reports that the between 1980 and 2010 the number of housing units in Texas increased by 81.9 percent, compared to just 41.3 percent in California.

Restricting the number of new homes that can be built improves the quality of life for the people who live in the state by making it less crowded, thereby reducing stress on the infrastructure and the environment. It means, for example, that Californians are less likely to see their homes blown up by exploding fertilizer plants (http://www.nytimes.com/2013/04/25/us/texas-fertilizer-plant-fell-through-cracks-of-regulatory-oversight.html?pagewanted=all&action=click&module=Search&region=searchResults%230&version=&url=http%3A%2F%2Fquery.nytimes.com%2Fsearch%2Fsite search%2F%3Faction%3Dclick%26region%3DMasthead%26p gtype%3DHomepage%26module%3DSearchSubmit%26content Collection%3DHomepage%26t%3Dqry943%23%2Ftexas%2520 fertilizer%2520plant%2520explosion&_r=1&). But it also means that fewer people will live there. For this reason it shouldn't be surprising that Texas would win the job growth derby; California has effectively decided to constrain its growth.

The dividend for Californians shows up in various ways. At 80.8 years, life expectancy in California is well above the national average (http://kff.org/other/state-indicator/life-expectancy/). The 78.5 year life expectancy in Texas is slightly below the national average. Large chunks of California have been parceled off in protected forests, sea shores, and deserts that people across the globe come to see. There is not much by way of protected nature in Texas.

If you were fortunate enough to buy a home in the state 25 or 30 years ago, you have likely made a huge amount of money. A house that sold for $150,000 in Los Angeles in 1987, would sell for $540,000 today (http://truth-out.org/us.spindices.com/index-family/real-estate/sp-case-shiller). This implies a gain of $232,500, after adjusting for inflation. By contrast, house prices in Texas have largely just kept pace with the rate of inflation. Of course that is good news if you're a young person interested in buying a home.

It's possible to make an argument that a growth path that allows for largely unrestricted development is a better way to go than a path one that tries to constrain growth to protect the quality of life. However it doesn't make sense to argue the case based simply on the fact that the former path leads to more growth.

There is no doubt that the Texas growth path will lead to more jobs. The question is whether it creates a society where people want to live. Many people are willing to pay lots of money to live elsewhere.

http://truth-out.org/news/item/22646-the-texas-california-job-growth-derby

[DarrinS]

gawt damn that was a stupid analysis by "truth-out"

I lol'ed at the line about exploding fertilizer plants -- classy

[boutons_deux]

yeah, good ol' TX boys left to their own reckless, bravado cowboyism is a fucking barrel of laughs, hee haw hee haw

[SnakeBoy]

That only really addresses, or attempt to address, scores on how the systems deal with immigrants. The US has a bit of an advantage, as we have more experience.


No that isn't what it is attempting to address....


The main theme in my blog is that we shouldn’t confuse policy with culture, and with demographic factors.

The author criticizes the arguments of the left and the right, yet you felt the need to quote only the criticism of the rights arguments so it's no surprise that you missed the larger point.

[ChumpDumper]

I still don't know why we have to bribe companies to come to Austin.

[boutons_deux]

all cities and states are forced to play the corporate scam game of spending $100Ms of taxes to compete with other cities and states. That scam cost WA $8B to keep a Boeing plane in WA. "studies have shown" that $M or $B in tax expenditures doesn't get paid back. iow, nothing but corporate welfare

[TDMVPDPOY]

for every thousand job loss, they claim a thousand job is created, yet when u question them...they dont have an answer where these new jobs are....

[RandomGuy]

No that isn't what it is attempting to address....



The author criticizes the arguments of the left and the right, yet you felt the need to quote only the criticism of the rights arguments so it's no surprise that you missed the larger point.

I acknowledged that both came in for criticism, and posted the part that I thought you might want to acknowledge or address, as someone who seems to be to have a libertarian streak.

I do get the point of the article, and agree with the overall thrust, as it is a good attempt to quantify some of what I have always suspected on an intuitive level as well. Our educational system is better off than most think.

I wonder though why you seem to be trying to make me seem not as intelligent. Why is it you feel the need to do that?

[SnakeBoy]

I acknowledged that both came in for criticism, and posted the part that I thought you might want to acknowledge or address, as someone who seems to be to have a libertarian streak.

I do get the point of the article, and agree with the overall thrust, as it is a good attempt to quantify some of what I have always suspected on an intuitive level as well. Our educational system is better off than most think.

I wonder though why you seem to be trying to make me seem not as intelligent. Why is it you feel the need to do that?

I wasn't suggesting you were not intelligent. Your post read like you had missed the authors point and were viewing it through blue colored glasses...I guess I misread your intentions.

FWIW, I'm not a libertarian...never have been.

[boutons_deux]

Miracle Worker RickyBobby's "open for business" schtick is really "my pockets are open"

Prolific Donors Are Behind Perry's Marketing Tool
http://www.texastribune.org/2014/04/08/prolific-perry-donors-are-behind-governors-marketi/

total quid pro quo corruption: give me money, and I give you tax payers $Bs.

[boutons_deux]

Hurting for Work

How disdain for government regulation sparked a “Texas miracle” economy — while tearing down protections for the workers who built it.

Behind the Texas
Miracle, a Broken System for Broken Workers

While Texas has a Division of Workers' Compensation, it is the only state that doesn’t require any private employer to carry workers’ compensation insurance or a private equivalent, so more than 500,000 people have no occupational benefits when they get injured at work.

That means they often rely on charities or taxpayers to pay for their care.Most Texans who are outside the workers’ comp system — more than a million people — do get private occupational insurance from their employers.

But those plans aren’t regulated by the state and can be crafted to sharply limit employees’ benefits, legal rights and health care choices.

Only 41 percent of the plans include death benefits, for example, according to state surveys.

Then there’s the state-regulated workers’ compensation system, which covers 81 percent of the Texas workforce.

On paper, the policies look great: They all include death benefits, partial income replacement for employees too hurt to work and lifetime medical benefits for serious injuries.

But for thousands of workers, the promised benefits never materialize.

Nearly half of all employee claims are initially denied or disputed in whole or in part, and when those denials blossom into a major disagreement before the Texas Division of Workers’ Compensation, workers lose most of the time, according to state data.

“They throw these workers away like tissue paper. They’re nothing more than a used Kleenex,” said Joe Longley, an Austin employment attorney who served as chief of the consumer protection division of the attorney general’s office in the 1970s.

“We don’t provide for the workers. We provide for the businesses."

INVESTIGATIVE FINDINGS

Texas stands alone in allowing employers to forgo workers’ comp insurance, and over 500,000 workers have no coverage if they are hurt or killed.
Texas doesn’t regulate private occupational insurance, which often provides fewer due process rights and stingier benefits than workers’ comp.
More than 90 percent of employers without workers’ comp flout a requirement that they notify the state of their opt-out status.
A quarter or more of employers without workers’ comp underreport lost-time injuries, recent audits suggest.
Major court decisions have eroded protections injured workers once had, including the right to sue certain employers who fire them for filing an injury claim.
Nearly half (45 percent) of all workers’ comp claims were initially denied or disputed in whole or in part from 2008 to 2013.
Workers are losing far more major disputes with workers' comp insurers, and their margin of defeat has increased.


While every other U.S. state eventually required most private employers to carry workers’ compensation insurance, Texas never did. Here, employers are permitted to “go bare,” meaning they can roll the dice, purchase no insurance for workplace mishaps and hope nothing bad happens.

http://apps.texastribune.org/hurting-for-work/