Opinions

Austin County Polling Locations for November 8 General Elections 7 a.m. to 7 p.m.

I recently attended a superintendent meeting at Region 4 in Houston and saw a presentation from the Charles Butt Foundation concerning the path forward in Education. Feeling undervalued, underpaid, and overworked, large numbers of Texas teachers have left or are seriously considering leaving the profession. Teacher attrition has increased each year in Texas and Columbus ISD has not been spared. Many of our teachers have reached retirement age and left education, but we have seen our largest numbers of young teachers leave the profession altogether. In their own words, teachers have disclosed many reasons for their impending departure from education.

An aging water main snapped in Odessa. Drought conditions decimated groundwater supplies to the town of Concan. Millions of Texans lived without water for days when complications from Winter Storm Uri left household taps dry. While Thursday, Oct. 20, marks the eighth annual Imagine a Day Without Water, too many Texans have already been forced to endure this reality.