Compare the budget of the state of Texas and the budget of the state of Massachusetts

Texas Government Common Assignment Critical Thinking Component

1. Compare the budget of the state of Texas and the budget of the state of

Massachusetts. How are the states similar in how they spend money and how are

the states different? How would you expect life to be different in Massachusetts

compared to Texas based on how the governments spend their money? Base your

arguments on the multiple sources provided and not your own “guess.” (CT 1 and

CT 2)

2. Life in Texas and Massachusetts can be very different, but that does not make

one superior to the other. Which state is more suitable to live in is determined by

how one defines a “quality” life. What factors do believe would lead to a high

quality of life? How you rate different life factors can be your opinion, but the

factors you use should be based on research. How do you think living in Texas,

and spending by the Texas state government, influence your perspective on what is

a “quality” life? (CT 3 and CT 4)

3. Looking back at spending by the states of Texas and Massachusetts what would

happen if each state changed its spending priorities. How would you expect

altering state spending would harm or enhance the quality of life for people living

in that state? Be sure to mention specific spending changes and base your

argument on how you would define quality of life. (CT 5)

Texas Government Common Assignment Visual Literacy Component

1. Describe what the graphs look like visually. Pretend that the reader is not able to

see the graphs and give as much detail as possible. (VC 1)

2. What information are the graphs presenting? What are the graphs telling you

about? Take the information that is presented visually and communicate it to the

reader in written form. (VC 2)

3. What does the information in these graphs mean for the government of Texas

versus the government of Massachusetts? How would the residents of each of the

states be affected by the information presented in the graphs? (VC 3)

Texas Government Common Assignment – Articles

http://content.time.com/time/subscriber/article/0,33009,2154995-1,00.html

https://www.cnbc.com/2017/07/11/gov-greg-abbott-why-texas-is-the-top- technology-state-in-us.html

http://www.slate.com/articles/news_and_politics/politics/2012/05/ massachusetts_is_the_best_state_in_the_union_.html

https://boston.cbslocal.com/2017/02/28/massachusetts-best-state-in-nation-us- news-world-report-economy-education-health-care