Texas Workforce Plan and Governor’s Budget Priorities In Sync

With his past efforts to strengthen the state’s position in the tech-based economy, new Texas Governor Rick Perry’s budget priorities — $251 million in new spending for college scholarships and math & science programs — should come as no surprise.



According to a recent article in the Austin American Statesman, Governor Perry’s budget recommendations will include $211 million in increased funding for college scholarships for lower-income students and $40 million for a new Master Math Teacher program to encourage more K-12 math instruction. Governor Perry cited a technically skilled workforce, built on a strong math and science education, as being needed for the state’s technology economy.



The move, consistent with Perry’s activities while serving as Lieutenant Governor, may foreshadow the Lone Star State taking a more active role in encouraging tech-based economic development.



In the fall of 1999, Perry established the state’s Advisory Council on the Digital Economy. This past October, the Council released Bringing Digital Opportunity to All Texans, a comprehensive strategy designed to create a technically trained workforce for the Lone Star State. Among the panel’s recommendations are the creation of a new position of State Technology Commissioner and a State Technology Council to advise the governor and state leaders on technology strategies and opportunities concerning economic development and state services.



Key education-related recommendations included:

• Focusing on teacher professional development, including the use of greater funding for training and tech support through new Telecommunications Infrastructure Fund (TIF) monies.
• Providing more incentives for excellence in math and science by expanding the “Master Teacher” designation to math specialists, similar to a Master Reading Teacher program that awards $5,000 annual stipends to certified reading specialists, and creating math and science camps.
• Encouraging greater classroom involvement from high-tech industry leaders to show the connection between math and exciting and lucrative professional opportunities to encourage students to study in science and technology-related fields. The council recommended streamlining the alternative certification process, creating adjunct teacher positions in technology, and encouraging greater collaboration between schools and high-tech companies in addressing community issues.
• Creating a new scholarship program at two-year colleges would be designed to encourage economically disadvantaged people to pursue technology-related jobs.
• Doubling the number of engineering graduates within five years at Texas’ four-year institutions.

Recommendations in non-educational issues included:

• Establishing a non-profit clearinghouse to coordinate with the Texas Department of Human Services, the Texas Workforce Commission and local workforce boards to direct technology donations to job training centers and the homes of disadvantaged Texans desiring skills that will make them marketable in the digital economy.
• Adopting the “America’s Promise” model in utilizing technology and the Internet to positively influence the development of Texas youth.
• Expansion of tele-health opportunities, including the formation of a pilot program targeting a specific population or region with special health care needs.

Bringing Digital Opportunity to All Texans is available for download at 

http://www.txdigecon.bus.utexas.edu