You can vote for the past, or you can vote for a better future

If you didn’t vote early, you have a choice on Tuesday. You can vote for the past, or you can vote for a better future. Donald Trump, Ted Cruz, Greg Abbott and Dan Patrick want you to vote for the past, a past in which schools are under-funded, educators are under-paid and hundreds of thousands of Texas school children and their families are under-nourished and lack adequate health care.

Texas is changing. That is inevitable, regardless of the results of this election. Trump, Cruz, Abbott, Patrick and their allies fear that change because many Texas leaders of the future won’t look like them and won’t think like them. Trump’s name isn’t on the ballot, but his elected supporters and apologists in Texas are piggybacking on his influence, however hateful it may be.

The fear and racial prejudice that Trump continues to stir won’t change the face of Texas’ future. The demographics of Texas and much of the United States have been changing and will continue to change, no matter how many troops Trump sends to the southern border or how many lies he tweets about birthright citizenship.

Texas will change for the better, but only with new leaders, leaders who will embrace change, not fear it. Leaders who will recognize the crucial role of public education and provide educators and students with real resources, not more lip service, funding cuts and privatization. Leaders who will applaud diversity and work to give every child an opportunity to succeed, beginning with improved health care and other family support services that millions of Texans need and the curent leadership has deliberately neglected.

Leaders who promise opportunity instead of promoting fear. Leaders such as these.

This is a critical election for public schools, students and educators, one of the most critical of our lifetimes. It also is a critcal election for our state’s future. Don’t be distracted by hate and fear. Vote Education First!