Weekend Insider: RNC Convention, School Demographics
Reporter Jay Root brings us an update from the Republican National Convention in Florida. Then Morgan Smith takes a look at the changing student demographics in Texas public schools – and the challenges those changes present.
Find full versions of these stories at TexasTribune.org

Comments (2)
V Marshall
This story confirms that "white flight" has already started on a state level. Texas is used to annexing communities to maintain a solid property tax base. How is the state going to annex communities in other states? I will be fascinated to see how Texas funds its K-12 and universities especially now that oil and gas companies are pulling out of the shale fields.
Papa Ray
The problem is multi-fold. There is no clear answer from anybody, especially politicians, but why. One reason is that politicians can do nothing without our votes and money. The other is that they think just throwing money at something will fix it.
It won't.
The population of Texas school kids is going straight up. The quality of teachers is going down. This has been happening for years.
Jobs of course is one of the basic problems. There are just so many jobs for uneducated or disadvantaged young people. You have to work two jobs to keep the wolf from the door and your kids and family going. It has been that way for decades.
Breaking that cycle is key for all ethnicities. But HOW?
I certainly don't have that answer, but I'm in good company, because it appears nobody does. The one thing that I'm sure of is that we can not continue to attract and gather under the U.S. roof more and more poor disadvantaged people. We must let and possibly help other countries take care of their own.
I could throw in Unions and other contributing factors but we should also look at others factors which are not apparent at first glance. I know when I went to school many years ago, my parents (two of them, man and woman) did without so I could have a pair of shoes. But I wore them until my feet hurt from them being too little. I had clothes, mended and sometimes used, that would never match what we think is acceptable now. Yet my parents got no help nor money from anyone except themselves. Yet I worked after school from the age of 6 either at my parents rented country home or at our neighbors. I worked mainly for barter, I work, they give their products to us. Milk, eggs, meat, etc. We grew our own vegetables.
Of course not much applies nowadays, except JOBS.
Use your charity wisely, give to those you know will not pocket it before it gets to those who need it. Help close our borders to most and vote for those that will enable our job producers to hire and discourage big government from making dependent slaves out of able bodies people.
Left a lot out. But it is hard to type for me now.
Take care and take care of those you love.
Papa Ray