Gov. Perry - Pro-Texas ads in other states (Houston, Austin: public school, contractors)

[Trainwreck20]

California and Arizona also have many "poor immigrants."

Very true

Frankly, so does much of the East Coast, including Maryland.

Probably not even the same order of magnitude.

[North Beach Person]

Map: Illegal immigrant population by state. - Slate Magazine

According to this MD's illegal (undocumented, unexpected guests, random new visitors, new friends) population is just under 5%, TX is around 9%.

[Chicken_of_Bristol]

Originally Posted by Trainwreck20

Probably not even the same order of magnitude.

Well, let's just use "illegal immigrants" as a stand-in for "poor immigrants" (since the two are often assumed to go hand-in-hand).

According to this study from the New America Foundation, Maryland is very close to Texas in terms of percentage and one of the state's with a higher than average percentage of their population that are illegal immigrants. I would also point out that Texas is not the highest.

But regardless, if your assumption is correct (i.e. that the reason Texas is ranked so low on so many of these metrics is because of their high population of poor immigrants), then you would expect to see a positive correlation between a high percentage of such people and poor rankings on the metrics. But that is not the case since, as pointed out, Maryland is ranked first in education despite having such a high percentage of their population as illegal immigrants.

So, there is something else going on here that explains the abysmal rankings of Texas.

[Chicken_of_Bristol]

Originally Posted by North Beach Person

Map: Illegal immigrant population by state. - Slate Magazine

According to this MD's illegal (undocumented, unexpected guests, random new visitors, new friends) population is just under 5%, TX is around 9%.

Actually Texas is at 6.7%, not 9

[Trainwreck20]

More than I though for MD, but not sure the immigrants are quite the same income level - it takes some means to get to MD if they come in from Mexico/S. America, whereas there is a huge number traveling across (and back) in Texas constantly with almost no means at all. And I guess percentage-wise, those are closer than I though - but 1.65 million in Texas compared to 275k is still quite a difference.

then you would expect to see a positive correlation between a high percentage of such people and poor rankings on the metrics

If all immigrants are 'the same', which they are not.

But I will stop, this is for another forum, I think .

[High_Plains_Retired]

Originally Posted by Chicken_of_Bristol

Governor O'Malley also makes some good points. Once you scratch the surface a little on the "Texas miracle" is doesn't smell so rosy.

If I were O'Malley, I would not say too much about scratching surfaces for odors. Maryland sits on the back of the nation's piggybank like a bloated dog tick. Texas sits on the back of North America poorest nation.

[North Beach Person]

Originally Posted by Chicken_of_Bristol

Actually Texas is at 6.7%, not 9

Looked at the wrong number, the 9% is percentage of labor force. MD's labor force number is a bit above 6%.

That, to me, makes an even bigger issue, that a state with a long international border has a number that's not really much larger (labor force is a different matter). The origin of the guests is different, though.

[Chicken_of_Bristol]

Originally Posted by Trainwreck20

More than I though for MD, but not sure the immigrants are quite the same income level - it takes some means to get to MD if they come in from Mexico/S. America, whereas there is a huge number traveling across (and back) in Texas constantly with almost no means at all. And I guess percentage-wise, those are closer than I though - but 1.65 million in Texas compared to 275k is still quite a difference.

Having lived up there, you would be surprised how many poor, Spanish speaking immigrants you run into up there.

And given the differences in population, percentages are what matter, not gross numbers.

Again, there is something else going on to explain Texas's poor showing.

[Trainwreck20]

Also, while Texas has a high dropout rate, the school system itself ranks from 14-17 in a number of ranking systems. Dropout rate is included in almost all rankings - so, regardless of whether you are learning or not, your school system must be better if you do not have dropouts. Similarly, the more you spend per pupil, you get a bump in ranking - so even if everything was equal otherwise, one state would have a better school system if they spent more money doing it.....

[TXNGL]

Originally Posted by North Beach Person

Map: Illegal immigrant population by state. - Slate Magazine

According to this MD's illegal (undocumented, unexpected guests, random new visitors, new friends) population is just under 5%, TX is around 9%.

Probably undercounted in both states.