EDITORIAL: Buckling up our kids on the way to and from school
Few things make us grimace as much as cuts in state funding for education. Yet, with the state of Texas facing a shortfall of as much as $20 billion and the public in no mood for tax hikes, education must take hits right along with most other state funding.
However, we agree with Gov. Rick Perry and state Rep. Charles “Doc” Anderson, R-Waco, that, of the $260 million in cuts proposed by the Texas Education Agency, those trimming funds to properly equip school buses with seat belts go too far. The TEA announced this week that it plans to use only $3.6 million of the $10 million allotted for the program.
Such cuts may seem fairly miniscule alongside others proposed by the TEA, including $48 million in cuts for new textbooks. But the truth is textbooks can be replaced. Students cannot if they’re killed in a school bus wreck.
The bill co-written by Anderson and state Sen. Eddie Lucio, D-Brownsville, to equip school buses with seat belts recognizes this. Anderson recalls the Beaumont school bus crash that killed two and triggered this 2007 legislation. “They talk of saving lives, but it’s also about preventing serious injuries,” he told a Tribune-Herald editorial board member Wednesday. “Of the three students injured in that same crash, one lost her arm, another lost the use of her arm, and a third had scars across the side of her face.” All of them dutifully attended legislative hearings to ensure the bill’s passage.
Enough said. The lives and well-being of our children should trump all else. State officials should fully restore funding and ensure our children are safe both to and from school.
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