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Texas: Leveraging Strengths, Addressing Challenges

Learn why Texas is a top state for business with economic opportunities while also facing issues like child poverty and education gaps. Join panel discussions on what works and what needs to change in Texas.

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Texas: Leveraging Strengths, Addressing Challenges

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  1. What Works in Texas… and What Needs to Change Robert Sanborn, Ed.D.

  2. What Works

  3. Economic Opportunity • America’s “Top State for Business” in 2010 • Texas is the nation’s number one producer of oil, gas and refined chemical products and a leader in aerospace and aviation • Texas is a top-ranked global destination for foreign direct investment • Texas’ unemployment rate has been at or below the national rate for 45 consecutive months

  4. Diversity • The population of Texas is approximately 50% minority • Latinos are expected to comprise the largest ethnic group in Texas by 2020 • Texas leads the nation in population diversity, even in rural Texas, due to the growing Latino population • Latino students account for the largest percentage of public school enrollment (49%), followed by White students (33%)

  5. Entrepreneurial Spirit • “Texas, at a lot of levels, is very fertile ground for education reform and for entrepreneurship in education…there’s something in the Texan DNA that allows entrepreneurship to happen.”  - Mike Feinberg, co-founder of KIPP • Robust charter school movement • Texas is home to 10% of the nation’s charters • Only two states, Arizona and California, have more charter schools than Texas

  6. What Needs to Change

  7. Child Poverty • 49% of Texas’ children live at or near poverty • Prevalence of child poverty is 3.2-3.5 times greater among Texas’ African American and Latino children than among White children • Only three states - New Mexico, Mississippi, and Arkansas - have a higher proportion of children in/near poverty

  8. Access to Health/Nutrition • Texas ranked last in children’s health insurance coverage in 2008, with 19% of children uninsured • 24% of children live in households that were food insecure at some point during the year • On an average day, more than 1.7 million Texas students who qualify for a free or reduced-price breakfast are not participating

  9. Educational Access • Texas ranks last in the nation in the percentage of adults with high school diplomas • Only 79.6% of Texans have a high school diploma • In Texas, more than one in three students never finish high school • Estimated cost to the state: $9.6 billion for each class of dropouts

  10. 62 N.Y.C. 42 Chicago 96 L.A. 11 Houston Texas ranks 39th in postsecondary enrollment among 18-24 year olds.

  11. What Works in Texas… and What Needs to Change Panel Discussions

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