[dropcap]T[/dropcap]exans got a reminder this weekend of what our state can do when we set our minds to it. News of former Governor Mark White’s death on Saturday brought back memories of our public education system before he took office in 1978, a reminder of how resistant to change we are, even when change is for the good.
When White became governor in 1983, teacher salaries were abysmally low, worse than today by a long shot. School finance was tied almost entirely to unpredictable rises and falls of the oil industry, and White set out to do something about that by trying to attract new businesses to the state. That was the beginning of the eventual boom that brought high tech, among other enterprises, to our door. The push for new business took more than a decade to come to fruition, culminating in Ann Richards’ success in luring California companies to the Lone Star State in the 1990s.
Why did it take so long to persuade businesses to locate in Texas with its near-perfect weather, low land prices and huge workforce? Education was a major part of the resistance. Executives and key employees didn’t want to move their families to a place where education was at the bottom of the heap. Thanks, but no thanks.
