I'm Pete du Pont with the National Center for Policy Analysis. In George W. Bush's wonderful convention acceptance speech, he warned democrats not to mess with Texas. Not that he expected them to listen. Looking for bad things in the lone star state is going to be a liberal past time between now and November.
Well, there's one thing they'd better not mess with: the State's — and Bush's — Education Record.
According to the Rand Corporation, math scores are up nationwide among black and hispanic students, and the greatest improvements are in the lone star state. Texas ranked first among the states. California, by the way, came in last as Texas students scored an average 11 percent higher on national assessment tests than California students from similar ethnic and family backgrounds. Black and hispanic students in Texas scored 15 percent higher than their California counterparts.
The Rand researcher who led the study complimented Bush for putting his resources in the right place.
So, when you hear liberal critics start to carp about Bush's record, remind them that messing with Texas could come back to haunt them.
Those are my ideas, and at the NCPA we know ideas can change the world. I'm Pete du Pont. Next time, The Arizona Version of Choice.