Fill out the census!
It’s back-to-school time and your “to do” list probably looks a lot different than most years. While we navigate the murky waters of life during COVID-19, being able to check something off your list will make you feel a little bit better. This week – make sure you complete the census!
The U.S. census is undertaken every 10 years in order to count the total number of U.S. residents, including citizens, legal residents, long-term visitors, and undocumented immigrants. Earlier this month, the Census Bureau announced that people would have one month less than expected to respond to the 2020 census count. The newly announced deadline is September 30th. While most states have dedicated millions of dollars to completing the Census, Texas has allocated ZERO. It is urgent that we get an accurate count and time is running short.
“An incomplete count directly imperils the future of the state because the census flows down to Texans’ daily lives for an entire decade. It serves as the funding basis for everything from early childhood programs to highway planning and construction. Data derived from the count is used for community building, guiding where grocery stores are built and whether schools will be large enough to host students in a community. The once-a-decade count is also about power, with the population figures used to determine how many seats Texas gets in Congress and how to distribute voters into political districts.” Read more about the importance of a complete count in this Texas Tribune Article.
The census is easy to complete, and extremely important to public education, to representation, and to securing resources for your community and the state of Texas. Here is a link to the U.S. Census Bureau with all sorts of information about how to be counted.
Do it today and cross it off you list!
Thank you,
Laura Yeager
Texas Educators Vote