Schools and Education
The school system here is one of the nation’s best; nearly 25 percent of adults have completed four years of college, which is more than the national average, and more than 90 languages are spoken in Houston. Diversity is a way of life and judging from the example set in Houston, it leads to prosperity. There is a pool of skilled, multicultural and multilingual workers available in Houston in the employment base. In 1981, it was determined the economy was dominated by energy-related businesses, such as petroleum production and oil refining, and nearly 85 percent of all jobs were in these sectors. However, today almost 50% of jobs are in non-energy fields such as medicine, manufacturing, farming, beef cattle breeding and exporting, aerospace, technology, and business. The city fathers of Houston insist on offering a wide range of incentive programs encouraging expanding or relocating businesses to operate in their city. Houston offers tax abatement programs, tax increment reinvestment opportunities and enterprise zones for increased profitability for companies and beneficial population increases for Houston.