Former Gov. Rick Perry (R-TX) voiced his support for school choice and parent empowerment in Texas in an editorial he wrote for the Odessa American.
In the editorial, Perry said rural Texas is seeing major population loss as young people leave the state to pursue outside opportunities. He wrote that data from school-choice programs in other states shows how such a program could work in Texas by giving families control over their children's education.
"Despite a history of school choice opposition in Texas, we can now look to evidence of success from states across America," Perry said in his editorial. "The results are overwhelming and positive, showing that empowering parents and expanding options leads to examples of teacher-led innovation, parent-driven accountability and steadily improving outcomes."
Perry wrote that that expanding school choice options would benefit rural communities, which are losing young residents at an alarming rate.
"Texas education is at a crossroads," he said, adding that polls show 69% of parents are "concerned" that their children are not ready to enter the workforce, and rural populations are declining as a result of a skills mismatch.
Perry also suggested that career and technical education (CTE) is one way to better align education with workforce demand and strengthen local economies. However, just 26 districts in Texas offer CTE programs in the oil and gas production industry, and only 22 offer CTE programs in the refining and chemical processes sector. Perry argues that expanding these opportunities through parent empowerment can help rural students access high-paying jobs and stay in their communities.
"CTE funding for students should also be made portable to support multiple pathways at multiple institutions if a student’s school does not provide a program of study the student is interested in pursuing," Perry wrote.
Paid apprenticeships and sensible rural broadband policies can also help, and such policies are popular with rural Texans, as 70% of those polled believe parents should be allowed to use their child's education funds to pay for workforce training, while 21% said they needed more information before answering, and only 9% said they were opposed.
"There’s a huge need for workers in the refining and chemical processes sector; jobs requiring no college at all pay median wages of $70,000 to more than $80,000," Perry wrote. "In fact, in 2019, only 36 students completed the oil and gas CTE programs, yet there are 1,407 job openings annually in this field."
According to a Texas Public Policy Foundation report, a majority of rural Texans believe that students graduating high school will not be ready to take on a career, despite the state spending $3 billion every year on education. An overwhelming majority of rural Texans are in favor of workforce training options being available for high school students as an alternative to college, allowing for debt-free training.