Wednesday, May 6, 2015

Hero to Zero? Veterans and Reduced Education Benifits

On Wednesday the Texas Senate approved an amendment to the Hazlewood act for veterans benefits. The amendment now requires minimum service of 6 years interest of the original 180 days and also states that children of veterans have only 15 years to use these benefits should they be passed down. Apparently the fat cats in the senate don't believe that serving your country is worthy of free school tuition for your children. The reform to the original legislation was aimed at curving the non-veteran recipients of these benefits. I believe there is a more structured way to make these costs more affordable, they could start by taking away their own yearly raises, spending less on our prison system. The fact of the matter is Texas' wealth and resources are being poured into the wrong buckets, so to speak. Pressing matters such as education, infrastructure and jobs. Not the pockets of fat cat politicians, university football coaches (I'm talking to you Mr. $5million Charlie Strong) and the other useless programs and districts throughout our state. I am enraged that our veterans and their children have to suffer the consequences of out of control public funding for the wrong things. We have a multitude of other options and an abundance of other departmental funding to adjust so that those brave enough to serve our country can afford to send their children to school on the back of their hard work and dedication. We are a notoriously supportive state to our military, why the heck are we now giving them the finger?

1 comment:

Robyn Evans said...

I agree with a lot of what Mr. Cisneros in regards to reduced education benefits for veteran's children. However, my opinion may be stemming from a different place. The article he refers to speaks of "ballooning costs". If this is in reference to education, then I call BS. Taking away education benefits would just be a band-aid on a much bigger problem with our education system. I feel as if the focus should be on regulating the cost of tuition and making sure all of the money we are paying for these classes is going to the right place. If the system weren't broken, we could all go to school for free, regardless of veteran status.