Stage 7- Fight for your rights: Women Unite

I have gone back and forth through article after article about Texas funding Planned Parenthood. The final decision has been made that Texas will give up funding to Planned Parenthood. But I believe Texas should fund Planned Parenthood. There is no question as to why, in my opinion. I strongly support Planned Parenthood and any other affiliates that “provide women with health services and many more functions of essential health and education in Texas.”

I personally relied on Planned Parenthood when I was a teen and didn’t have any other option at the time for a health care provider. My Mom didn’t have health insurance for us and I was appreciative of the services they provided me as I became a young woman and needed assistance with well woman exams, etc. I believe women have a right to what they choose to do with their own bodies.

I declare that Texas should be concerned with giving people the services they need, regardless if the facility also provides abortions. That should be the least of the State’s concern. How can local Government tell a woman what to do with her body?

I am very concerned of where the people who currently use Planned Parenthood will go if they can’t keep their doors open. If the funding doesn’t come from the State, where will Planned Parenthood get the money they will lose? The Government was paying 90% of the program. Planned Parenthood currently provides service to over “100,000 low-income Texas women.” I stand by those women in providing the services they need to stay healthy and knowledgeable for themselves and their families.

We as women need to fight for our rights and unite to support those that need assistance. We have an accomplished health care provider already in place called Planned Parenthood; they have been “serving the State of Texas for over 75 years.” They got it right for many years and now need support for their services. Who will stand in agreement with me on this highly debated topic?

Stage 6: Money to schools? Says Who?

I was intrigued when I reviewed a peer’s post entitled “Can you be more specific?” on Yesterday’s Texas Today blog dated Friday November 2, 2012. The post was written by a peer and posted on our class blog page. I consider that to be a credible source. The argument was that if schools need additional money, could they be more specific. The author argued how they came up with that exact amount and how that specific amount will impact the achievement gap. The audience is the general public. The generalization is because most individuals are concerned with education and especially where their tax dollars are going.

The basic argument is regarding the trial of school districts against the State of Texas and an expert named Lynn Moak who spoke claiming schools needed $6 billion a year to meet higher standards. The argument goes further to ask “can they be more specific” as to why that dollar amount and where the money will go.

The assumption that the argument relies on is that the reader already knows how a school district spends money. One value held is regarding the general public and its concern about education. Another value is the general public’s concern where their tax dollars are spent, so much so that they need to know exactly where the money will be used. There is a slight hint that government should regulate how school’s use money given to them. But there aren’t specifics on what government should do.

The argument doesn’t give hard facts. It does use the author’s knowledge about education from watching news and talking to friends that are teachers. The author doesn’t support the argument with evidence.

I believe the argument is successful for me personally because I have knowledge of the current situation with school districts vs. the State. It does convince me because I agree with the factors listed that the author felt needed to be addressed. It doesn’t change my mind about my current beliefs. It actually confirms my current beliefs and reiterates my feelings that we should know how school districts will use the extra money. The author does well to conclude the post with asking a valid question “isn’t it about time we stop wasting valuable tax dollars...” I learned from the argument that I am not the only one concerned about the achievement gap. The argument successfully reinforces my beliefs about education in general.

Stage 5: Is There Equality In Texas School Funding?

Our children determine our future. This small statement leads to the larger challenge that is on people’s minds today: Texas should fund public education equally. Last week’s headlines were filled with articles and opinions about Texas school districts being involved in a major lawsuit against the Legislature. The claims were that the Legislature is failing to fund schools as the Constitution laid out.

The article that got me wanting to create some picketing signs and take a stand is located on the Statesman.com. I have a strong belief that if Texas wants to be the great State it has the potential to be, we must support our children to rise higher than where we came from. There is no reason that our children, our future, shouldn’t get the best education possible. There are statistics that show where we as a State rate when compared to other States when discussing education. 

We have made some improvements but to keep up with the growth and advancement of the 21st Century, we must adequately finance our public schools. I stand with those stating that the Legislature must enforce the Constitution and its laws. Public schools should be financed equally, regardless of the environment or neighborhood they reside in. Poor school, rich school, that shouldn’t matter; a school should be known as a scholarly school, a school that will educate our children with more than adequate resources and technologies of this fast paced and always changing technical world.

Everyone agrees that hard proof from ratings, statistics, test scores, etc. shows that education should be number one on our list of priorities. Education should be number one for Legislature as well. Texas is a great State and its future generation should reflect how great we really can be. We should be ranked higher in education. We must agree that Texas has to fund public education equally. Our future depends on it.