Texas Gov. Perry ponders 4th term

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AUSTIN, Texas, Feb. 22 (UPI) -- Having dropped out of the race for the Republican presidential nomination, Texas Gov. Rick Perry said he's pondering another run at the statehouse in 2014.

Perry, the longest-serving governor in Texas history with three full terms, has kept a low profile since exiting the presidential race Jan. 19 but told The Austin American-Statesman he'll most likely make up his mind about running for governor again next year.

Although there are no term limits in Texas, Perry said he is reticent to make a commitment now about whether he'll run, the newspaper said Tuesday.

"It will be June of 2013 before I would sit down and really give substantive thought to that," Perry said. "I'm focused on the legislative session. I can't tell you I'm definitely in or definitely out, either one."

Last month, several Texas newspapers commissioned a survey which found almost 1-in-3 Republicans in the state said his performance as a presidential candidate dimmed the respondent's view of him. The poll also indicated 40 percent of those responding said he should not seek re-election in 2014.

One of the reasons is people find him out of touch especially when it comes to education funding, the American-Statesman reported.

Perry said Tuesday he thinks Texas schools are adequately funded.

Rebecca Acuna, a spokeswoman for the Texas Democratic Party, doesn't think so and challenged Perry's definition of adequate funding, singling out the Hutto school district which is contemplating charging students $100 per semester to ride the school bus, the newspaper said.

"Those cuts are a direct result of the state's poor funding of Texas public schools," Acuna said. "He's completely out of touch with what Texas families are going through."