Texas 2036

Everyone is from California. Are they kicking y’all out?” asks a curious bureaucrat at the Department of Public Safety in Plano, a city near Dallas. In the previous week she had helped 20 people from California apply for a Texas driving licence. Those keeping score in the contest between the two states do not have to...

Their task is to educate whole generations, but if California and Texas were to be graded for their achievements in the classroom, they would barely pass. They rank 36th and 41st, respectively, out of 51 states (including Washington, dc) for educational outcomes, according to Education Week, a news firm. Only 29% of fourth-graders (aged 9-10) in Texas...

“There’s a texan expression, ‘You dance with the one who brung ya’,” says Tom Luce, with a serious face and a strong drawl. “But oftentimes you can’t just dance with who brought you. You’ve got to face the future.” Mr Luce founded a law firm, Hughes & Luce, and served under several Texan governors and as...

The urban core is long since complete. Omniplan has replaced I.M. Pei with the New Urbanism. Glass and steel beckons in the night. At street-level, a facsimile of Rodeo Drive sprouts glittering shops and restaurants. A 20-foot steel wall surrounds downtown and Uptown. With facial recognition and ubiquitous cameras scanning license plates, police enforce a...

The details of Texas 2036 – a long-term plan to sustain Texas as the “best place to live and do business” through the state’s bicentennial and beyond – are still in the works. Tom Luce, an SMU-alum and member of the Library of Congress Board, is championing the project. Luce spoke about Texas 2036 in...

Tom Luce, a Dallas attorney, has been involved in a variety of state, federal and civic projects. He played a key role in Texas education reform in the 1980s and served as an undersecretary for education during the George W. Bush administration. He is currently leading Texas 2036, which aims to create a policy roadmap...