Health, Education Groups Call for Real Solutions to State Budget Challenges

September 5, 2012

Contacts:
Christine Sinatra, Texans Care for Children: (512) 473-2274
Rob D'Amico, Texas AFT: (512) 448-0130
Clay Robison, TSTA: (512) 476-5355

Health, Education Groups: Stop Pitting Health Care and Schools Against Each Other!

Both are key to state's future, groups say, calling for "real solutions" in Texas' finances

AUSTIN, Texas -- Concerned that state leaders plan to impose another austerity budget on the people of Texas, Texas health care providers and educators stood together at a Capitol press conference Wednesday in calling for state leaders to make both children's health and learning a priority. The groups also announced a petition already signed by more than 2,100 Texans, calling for state officials to stop blaming Texas's school funding woes on health services and instead "plan to meet the needs of Texans." The educators and health care representatives came together under the umbrella of Texas Forward, a coalition focused on adequately funding today's needed public services and preparing Texas for future demands through public investments.

"Texans want a bright future for our state, and that includes both a good education and decent medical care for our children," said Eileen Garcia, whose organization, Texans Care for Children, is a member of Texas Forward. "The choice ahead doesn't need to rest with either depriving Texans in the classroom or in nursing homes and doctors' offices. The real choice is whether to keep our communities strong, healthy and primed for success."

The next Legislature will have a large cash balance and an even larger and growing Economic Stabilization Fund to help fund public services in the next state budget. Yet in recent months, Texas officials have suggested repeatedly that funding for public schools may decline if Texas is not allowed to cut Medicaid, which serves low-income children, as well as Texans with disabilities and seniors in nursing homes.

"It's wrong to mislead Texans into thinking they have to choose between health care, education or any other public service, when this is really a matter of whether our officials will make children a priority," said Montserrat Garibay of Education Austin, an affiliate of Texas AFT and the Texas State Teachers Association, which are Texas Forward coalition members. "We should use the state's growing cash balance and Economic Stabilization Fund, fix the hole the Legislature put in our school finance system in 2006 and address the long-term erosion of the state tax base that has cost our schools and health services billions."

"Healthy students learn better, and education leads to better health and future success," said Dell Children's Medical Center pediatrician Stephen Pont, who is also medical director for Austin Independent School District. "We can make no better investment than in our children. If Texans want improved public health and a stronger workforce tomorrow, the solution is making sure both our schools and health systems have the resources they need."

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