From Senator Leticia Van de Putte
Helping Students Just Makes Economic Sense
Texas Insider Report: AUSTIN, Texas – The Republican primary race for Lieutenant Governor is quickly turning into an emotional bomb-throwing spectacle, with the four candidates blasting away at hot-button issues to establish who is furthest to the right. Among their recent targets is the Texas Dream Act, the 2001 law granting in-state college tuition rates to Texas high school graduates who are undocumented.
This law, which I sponsored in the Senate, passed with overwhelming bipartisan support and was signed by Republican Governor Rick Perry. The four lieutenant governor candidates seem to think this happened under the influence of misguided, bleeding-heart compassion. But really, this law passed because it made smart economic sense for Texas, both then and now.
Before 1982, Texas law allowed school districts to deny education to children of undocumented immigrants. The U.S. Supreme Court [Plyler v. Doe] struck it down, ruling states may not withhold public education from children residing within their boundaries, regardless of immigration status. Given this ruling, let’s step back from the emotion and just look at the math:
Texas has already made a significant investment in these students. K-12 public education is about 42 percent of our overall state budget. Educating one child costs around $8,671 per year. Because the Texas Dream Act requires graduates to have at least three years of residency, that means our investment totals at least around $26,013 per “Dreamer” – more if they came as little children.
According to the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board, in 2011 there were 18,623 undocumented students enrolled in the state universities and colleges (less than 1 percent of all college students). That means Texas had already invested at least $484 million into those students before they graduated high school.
The Texas Dream Act is our greatest chance to ensure the biggest return on our investment. Workers with a bachelor’s degree earn substantially more than those with just a high school education.
According to the Bureau of Labor and Statistics, the average weekly income for those holding a high school diploma or equivalent was $647. With a few college courses, that average increased to $719. The holder of an associate’s degree, typically a two-year degree, averages $768 per week, and a bachelor’s degree boosts that average salary significantly to $1,193.
So, while we invested about $240 per week per each of these students in high school, with a bachelor’s degree they could earn $1,193 per week. That could be a profit for Texas of $953 per week per student. That is a return of almost $4 per $1 already invested! Without a bachelor’s degree, the return is only around $2.50 per $1 invested.
Experts who use much more sophisticated calculations tell us that in the long term, our return on investment could double – higher-wage jobs mean more money spent in our stores, restaurants, and other businesses. Any way you look at it, the Texas Dream Act is a smart return on investment for our entire state, not just “Dreamers.”
These children are our students, and they desperately want to be citizens. The Dream Act requires them to petition for citizenship, and they proudly do so, as the United States is the country of their dreams.
Given these numbers, should we waste time fighting over less than 1 percent of the college-going population while 100 percent of Texans struggle with severe droughts and fight to prevent our roads from being turned to gravel?
We must put emotions aside and do what is best for Texas’ dream – to be the greatest state in the nation. Basic math shows us that the Texas Dream Act can help us get there.
Military Matters
Vote for Proposition 1 and 4!
I’ve already beaten this drum before, but I’m gonna keep beating it until Election Day: Vote for Propositions 1 and 4 on November 5! (Or in Early Voting, which runs through November 1.) Both will benefit our military families and their survivors.
Proposition 1 will authorize the Legislature to provide for an exemption from ad valorem taxation of all or part of the market value of the residence homestead of the surviving spouse of a member of the armed services of the United States who is killed in action.
These spouses (“Gold Star Spouses”) have already given all that we can ask in the defense of our nation. As a way of making their lives easier during the difficult period after their spouses death, and as a way of showing our gratitude thereafter, the Legislature passed an exemption for Gold Star Spouses from 100% of their homestead property tax burden, provided the Gold Star Spouse has not remarried. The exemption is contingent upon Prop. 1’s passage.
Proposition 4 will provide for an exemption from ad valorem taxation of part of the market value of the residence homestead of a partially disabled veteran or the surviving spouse of a partially disabled veteran if the residence homestead was donated to the disabled veteran by a charitable organization.
In testimony, Legislators learned that some disabled veterans have received homes donated by charitable organizations, tailored to their accessibility needs, only to then lose those homes due to foreclosure for inability to pay property taxes. The Legislature was dismayed that this wonderful gift to deserving heroes could be taken away through foreclosure, and desires to reduce the veteran’s tax burden by a percentage correlating to his or her level of disability (i.e., a 70% disability would receive a 70% tax reduction).
But neither of these laws can take effect unless they are approved at the ballot box by YOU. Bexar County residents can get election information by clicking here; other Texas residents can go to the Secretary of State’s website or call their county election officials.
