I love Texas. I was born and raised in this beautiful state. I have been the recipient of the kindness of the people of Texas many times over. I worked as a public school teacher and administrator in the state of Texas. I earned both of my college degrees at the University of Houston in Texas. Texas is home to me and when I travel I always feel a sense of relief when I pull into my neighborhood. Nonetheless I find myself wondering if it is a good idea to remain in Texas, something that night not have ever occurred to me were it not for events of the past few years.

Texas politics are quite interesting. Most of the people in Texas live inside the cities, which are mostly run by duly elected Democrats, but the rural Texans vote in Republican blocks that keep the state offices firmly in the hands of Republicans. All too often the decisions made in the state legislature do not reflect the beliefs of the city folk and sometimes they even run counter to the kinds of things that we need. Of course that is the way democracy often works, but of late it seems to have become toxic to the very survival of our beautiful state. 

Texas encompasses a vast area of land that represents multiple ecosystems. We have beaches and mountains, swamps and deserts, forests and grassy plains. There really is something for everyone in Texas but years of conservative leaning government have left us vulnerable to the harsh effects of climate change which brought hundred degree temperatures to virtually every part of the state from June and into September. With little or no rain for weeks on end the landscape was shades of brown and water became scarce while the usage of electricity to keep the citizens cool threatened the grid that provides power to collapse. 

All the while far too many of the people who hold positions of power in our state ignore the extreme changes in our weather that are becoming more and more frequent and more and more likely to leave us in a never ending cycle of emergency. Instead they focus too much on culture war issues that have little effect on our quality of life and often are at odds with the needs and beliefs of a rather large swath of the citizens. 

On September 1, many new laws came into effect but none of them had much to do with the dangers that we face from climate change. Some even seemed to fly in the face of the realities of extreme weather events that have plagued us for months. For example, the state overrode the authority of cities to require companies to provide water breaks for workers who are laboring outside on very hot days. The irony of such lack of foresight became even more apparent when those workers were dealing with temperatures as high as one hundred seven degrees. 

In the meantime, the state of Texas took control of the largest school district in the state, Houston ISD, because a couple of schools did not raise their test score as high and as quickly as desired. The new rules that the state appointed superintendent and school board have implemented are so ridiculous that it boggles the mind. Teachers must read scripts for their lessons that will in turn be carefully times with clocks and stopwatches. Even papers will be graded by an aide rather than the teacher. Such measures take much of the humanity and creativity out of the educational process. Additionally no first day welcomes or introductions were allowed this year. Doors have to stay open so that classrooms can be carefully observed without notice.

The schools are being run with military precision and no thought of the feelings of either the teachers or the students inside those classrooms. Libraries are being used as discipline centers so librarians have been released to go to other schools or to perform other duties. Just as with the heat of the summer, the real educational issues are not being addressed. Instead instruction is being glossed over with rules and procedures rather than individualization for both teachers and students who are engaged in the art of learning. 

Universities are not immune to such oversight either, with tenure becoming more difficult to secure and more input as to what can be taught and how it should be taught coming from lawmakers rather than experts in particular fields. The result has been more than usual numbers of professors considering relocating to other states.

All of this kind of legislating is turning off a number of long time Texans who are beginning to wonder if it is time to move to a state that is more friendly to their needs. The irony of all of it is that our state motto is “friendship.” We have historically been a place where people came to find the freedom to be themselves. Somehow along the way too many people in Texas have lost their empathy for refugees from anywhere and so lawmakers seem more intent on legislating what we can or cannot do rather than in implementing ways to be innovative and dynamic. Their fixes tend to be quick, poorly considered and punishing. There is a sense that the elected officials are not working for all of us, but instead are pandering only to those who voted for them. That means that they are out of step without almost half of the citizens and it does not seem to matter to them. 

I am seeing more and more of my former students formulating ways to reestablish themselves in other places. They do not feel that their needs are being met in Texas and in fact actually believe that they will not have much of a future in this state. All of this saddens me. I am a Texans through and through who gets emotional when I drive through the state and marvel at its beauty. I love the people here but have slowly seen us dividing into two camps. I wonder how we have allowed ourselves to be so manipulated.

I long for the days when Texans were legendary for thinking out of the box and working together. Instead I see various groups coming under attack. I see our Attorney General being tried by his Republican peers for mishandling the ethics of his office. There is an angry attempt to undo our reputation as a refuge that welcomes those attempting to escape hardships. I wonder what it will take to make Texas great again. My beautiful state is in trouble and more than anything I want to save it