Tea Party Texans Said What? New Poll About Funding Texas Education Has Surprising Answers
Along with the issue of equal pay, education is front and center in the statewide races this election cycle. Wendy Davis, Greg Abbott, Glen Hegar, and Dan Patrick are counting on their education policy platforms to turn voters out in November. Education is not only an election-cycle issue. The last two legislative sessions saw education funding take center stage in battles over the budget.
All of the candidates and campaigns know how important education is to Texan voters - but are they really saying what Texans want to hear? A recent poll by the University of Texas and the Texas Tribune may have the answers - and they might surprise you.
From preschool education to vouchers, candidates know that education matters to Texas voters. However, some of the assumptions made on both sides of the aisle may not truly reflect what Texans want going in to the 2014 election cycle - according to the poll.
In the past, the results have been predictable. When asked what should be done with the surplus in funding back during the 2013 legislative session, following the previous cuts to education to the tune of five billion dollars in 2011, Republicans chose "either limit government (51 percent) or lower property and business taxes (19 percent" over restoring funding to public education. The tendency towards limited government also colors Abbott's attacks on Davis' education plans. By making claims about the possible cost to the state of her education proposals, Abbott can talk about education in the context of limiting government: a one-two punch for conservative voters.
More at http://www.burntorangereport.com/diary/15097/tea-party-texans-said-what-new-poll-about-funding-texas-education-has-surprising-answers .
