Texas is rapidly running out of smart people.
Just look to Austin for proof. No, no, just kidding. That finding comes from an article published and survey conducted by an outfit called 24/7 Wall St.com, not to be confused with The Wall Street Journal.
The survey ranked Texas at No. 9 on a list of the 10 states losing the good education, bachelor’s degree or better, and good job, white collar, race to the other 40 states.
Data compiled from 2000-2009, according the researchers, show that 25.5 percent of Texans earned higher education degrees and 12.5 percent of us work at white-collar jobs. We ranked 18th in regard to math skills gauged by the National Assessment of Educational Progress figures and 34th in reading.
Population change also weighed into the formula, but some states that ranked lower in white-collar jobs came out better in the ranking, so go figure. In fact, the whole listing of criteria comparisons gives me a headache, so read it here and see if it makes sense to you.
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One thing, though. The survey and article set out to gauge states’ collective intelligence levels, yet the article includes a sentence reading, “An employer who has to pick between two potential employees is likely to choose the one who reads best, writes best, and has the highest level of educational attainment.” You have two candidates therefore the sentence should reach comparative — good, better, best; high, higher, highest — levels not superlative, which would require three candidates.
Trust the survey?
Bruce Felps owns and operates East Dallas Times, an online community news outlet serving the White Rock Lake area. His lifelong presence in Texas automatically drops the state’s collective IQ by about 8 points.
