Considering that my last blog post was about the challenges that the state of Texas has in helping under-prepared students graduate from college I thought choosing this particular commentary to review would be a great fit. Not only did the commentary titled "Green: Tuition law helps Texas economy" tie in with my last blog post but it is also relevant with our upcoming participation topic regarding an immigration law in Texas.
The commentary was written by Joshua Green who is a national correspondent at Bloomberg Businessweek in which his column appears in The Boston Globe. This particular commentary appeared on statesman.com and the title itself caught my attention. As I began to read Green's commentary, I noticed that his intended audience was probably anyone who watched last week's Republican debate, but more so geared towards conservatives.
Green states last month, Texas Gov. Rick Perry shot to the front of the pack when he joined the Republican presidential field, but his disastrous performance in last week's debate might propel him toward the rear and could eventually drive him out of the race, if he can't find a way to recover from it. Green goes on to say that Perry was challenged about signing a 2001 law that allows children of illegal immigrants to pay in-state college tuition rates if they've lived in Texas for three years and plan to become permanent residents. Green believes that is a serious provocation to a Republican primary electorate that has grown steadily more nativist and less welcoming of minorities.
Green further states that Perry went beyond just defending the law to accuse his critics of lacking "heart" in which that statement is where Perry really got himself into trouble. Green's views is that invoking compassion or social justice before conservative audiences that think nothing of booing a gay soldier in Iraq or cheering the prospect of the uninsured being left to die...is bound to cut into one's support.
Green suggest that Perry would have done better if he presented a different rationale for the law, namely that it helps the state economy. Perry's campaign is, after all, premised on the idea that he is better qualified than any of his opponents to create jobs and grow the economy.
I found Joshua Green's commentary very insightful towards the current immigration/education standpoint. I work closely with the Round Rock Financial Aid Office so I hear and see many students of different races and backgrounds upset about the recent financial aid cuts from the state. Such programs include work-study, Texas Educational Opportunity Grant, B-On-Time, Top 10 Percent Scholarship, and The Tuition Equalization Grant just to name a few. There are quite a few people who are upset about the tuition law in Texas in regards to illegal immigrants, but reading Joshua Green's commentary provides a different, more positive view, on that particular law.
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