Budget cuts hit home....

This is a post that I don't want to write, because I am in general, not an activist. But occasionally, I take to my blog to post my opinion about things that are going on in our community or in our nation.

Today, it is my state. I love Texas. There is no other state that can boast as many types of landscapes as we have. From Gulf Coast beaches, to deserts, to the beautiful rolling hills of the Hill Country, to great piney areas...Texas has it all.

And in general, I do not read the newspaper, nor do I watch the news, because it is nothing but depressing information. But I caught this, and it made me very upset.

The proposed state budget includes cutting arts education, pre-k, thousands of jobs, eliminating grants and financial aid for colleges, HUGE implications on the health and human services front, AND the CLOSING of 4 community colleges, including our very own Brazosport College!!! We have a very, very small community...so if you don't work for the chemical company, or the county, you work for the school system or the college.

BC offers a degree plan in chemical processing, which is REQUIRED by most, if not ALL of the chemical companies in town. They recently added a Bachelor's degree program in this field, and is currently making additions in hopes of expanding the degree plans. It offers Summer programs for children, community education classes in everything from wine tasting, to computer programming, to pharmacy tech, to cake decorating. BC has a great music program, an amazing theater program, a world class daycare center, and TONS of affordable classes for either 2 year degrees or as stepping stones for transfers to universities.

My husband got his chemical processing degree there, I took summer classes there while attending Texas A&M, and my boys go there for their kid programs in archery, cooking, sports, art, construction etc.

It would be devestating to our community to no longer have this as a higher education option for our kids.

So, I wrote my local representative to express my concern about these cuts. Now, my personal opinion is that our politicians spend too much time, money, and resources on things that don't matter. Plane rides, bailouts for corporations that make billions of dollars, elaborate inaugural parties, etc.

I mean, I look at our budget, and with J's most recent asthma attack and trip to urgent care and purchasing his medicine, I totally get when things are tight. Single mothers know about budgets and working with tight budgets. Our middle class knows about working with tight budgets. We are in a recession and we can't have everything....but to close an entire college seems very excessive, especially when you throw in all the other cuts they are proposing.

Seriously, the state needs to consult with a board of moms to create a better budget. Moms are running the world after all.