 | Constitutional Amendments - Summary | |
| Election Day: Tuesday, November 3, 2009 | ||
Proposition No. 4
Heritage Alliance Recommendation: AGAINST
How the proposition will appear on the ballot:
The constitutional amendment establishing the national research university fund to enable emerging research universities in this state to achieve national prominence as major research universities and transferring the balance of the higher education fund to the national research university fund.
Summary:
This proposition would authorize the $400 million currently in the Higher Education Fund to be transferred to a new national research university fund.
Heritage Alliance Recommendation:
AGAINST
Conservative Principles which are the basis for this recommendation:
There is currently about $400 million in the Higher Education Fund. The money was designed to provide resources to state universities not funded by the Permanent University Fund (University of Texas, Texas A&M, and Prairie View A&M). The Legislature already has the ability to fund higher education, but has not leveraged state resources in recent years to increase the value of the Higher Education Fund so that it can be used to support these other universities. Texas already has three Tier I universities: Rice University (private), University of Texas, and Texas A&M. A vote against this proposition would ensure that Texas keeps a priority on education of students. A focus on research in higher education not only harms the quality of education students receive, but often inflates tuition costs.
Proposition 4, if passed, will enlarge the role of government in an area where free enterprise is clearly better suited. The private market has already shown that it can take care of the nation=s research needs. Compared to research performed at universities, where federal grant money is often used on projects of questionable value, research performed by the free market is managed more efficiently, with clear objectives and applications for the public good, and is not subsidized by Texas taxpayers and students.