Paul Alex Briseno

Dear Gov. Perry,

Our company has been serving Texans since 1905 and this recession isn’t our first rodeo!

We kept adding people and stores right through the Great Depression of the 1930s until building materials became unavailable due to World War II. Company growth continued through the recessions of 1973-75 and the 1980s and we are building and hiring aggressively today.

For Texas to cut $4 billion from public school funding now, when a better-educated Texas can be a bulwark against future recessions, seems unwise, not conservative and, in fact, very risky for the state. Falling back isn’t the way Eisenhower and Patton won World War II.

This isn’t about political parties or national issues; it’s about the future of Texas.

As business people investing annually, we are worried about the state’s future if we start cutting education funding — lower per capita income and higher crime rates are almost certain to result. An educated workforce is essential to all industries.

With 160,000 children joining the system in the next biennium we at least need to fund at 2010-2011 levels.

In March 2011, the Financial Times reported Texas to be 44th out of 50 states in funding per student and said Texas had “one of the most underfunded - and needy - education systems in the U.S.” Let’s move forward (as Texas always has), not back.

I urge you to consider these views for the future good of the state we all love.

Thank you for your public service!

Respectfully,

Charles C. Butt, chairman and CEO, H.E. Butt Grocery Co., San Antonio