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Candidate Survey Responses

RESPONSES TO THE 2026 ATPE CANDIDATE SURVEY:

Please describe any specific goals or legislative initiatives you would pursue to strengthen the state’s public education system.

Public Education: Excellence, Not Vouchers

People relocate to HD98 because of the excellent reputation of our public schools. Unfortunately, the quality of our public schools is declining because of restricted budgets, the Austin voucher scam, and ridiculous culture wars that ban books and focus on bathrooms. Enrollment in our ISDs is declining partially because of these divisive culture wars. I’ll fight to fully restore public school funding, pay teachers what they’re worth and take radical politics out of our schools and curriculum.

School vouchers drain financial resources from our school districts by sending taxpayer money to private, unregulated schools. School budgets are under enormous stress because of cuts to local property taxes, stagnant basic allotment per student and suppressed business taxes. Even worse, federal funding cuts are gravely impacting special and early childhood education programs. Governor Abbott now has proposed a plan that could cut school taxes even more severely. I will fight to repeal the school voucher scam, fully fund our public schools, raise teacher pay and ensure every child has access to a high-quality education.

Local government rule of our schools and academic integrity are under attack. The Texas Education Agency in Austin has taken over the ISDs of Fort Worth, Lake Worth and Houston and more are coming. This amounts to for-profit corporate outsourcing of our schools. State-mandated teaching methods, like the religiously biased Bluebonnet Learning curriculum, undermine how our children learn and their critical thinking skills. Teacher retention is declining across all our local school districts, and this exodus can only mean a race to the bottom. Our kids deserve the best, and I will not let them down.

I will also work to restore DEI programs and repeal any laws and policies that support book banning.

The 89th Legislature passed an $8 billion school funding bill, HB 2. However, despite years of unanswered “inflationary challenges, a large majority of that funding was earmarked to specific programs and did not supply districts with significant flexible funding, leaving the majority of Texas students in districts with deficit budgets and other significant funding challenges. Do you believe Texas public schools should receive additional funding? If so, how should the state pay for it, and should that funding be earmarked at the state level or provide districts with flexible dollars?

Yes, Texas public schools must receive additional funding in order to provide all students a high quality education. The daily allotment must be increased to at least match what the state pays in vouchers. Ex-Flex waivers at the federal and state level should be a significant part of the funding mix. Texas is a huge state with great differences in demographics and needs. Stakeholders at the local level are the best qualified and prepared to understand how to meet those needs.

I will explore diversification of our tax base by generating new revenue through destination and sportsbook gambling and legalization of marijuana. Additionally, I will work to ensure corporations pay their fair share of property and other taxes instead of receiving huge tax breaks that amount to corporate welfare.

Education savings accounts (ESAs) redirect public funds to private or home schools. How do you believe Texas should fund public schools, traditional and charter, alongside ESA vouchers? How should ESA spending be held accountable to taxpayers?

While I need to be more informed on ESAs, they appear to be another type of school voucher scam that undercuts the funding of public schools by diverting funds to private and home schools. The first year in 2026-27 should be considered a test/pilot year to determine the financial effect on schools and effectiveness of student performance. At this point, I will be cautiously open minded in order to support only students with medical or other needs beyond the general capability of public schools. Unbiased data, and student and financial assessments are needed for accountability. Any private school or home-schooling parent should be held to the same standards as public school students.

Under HB 2, passed in 2025, all educators in core content courses (math, English, science, and social studies) must be certified by 2030. While this is a good start, more can and should be done to ensure high-quality teachers continue to enter the classroom. What are your suggestions to improve the quality of the new teacher pipeline?

Better pay, better healthcare benefits, better retirement benefits, less curriculum and other interference from the TEA, less focus on standardized testing (teaching to the test), more opportunity for collective bargaining, additional paraprofessional staff support.

The 89th Legislature passed legislation creating a new mechanism to provide only classroom teachers with tiered raises based on early years of service and their district’s student enrollment. While the raises were significant, they did not apply to all campus educators, and the program created a significant negative funding stream at the district level due to unfunded increased costs for non-salary compensation tied to payroll, such as TRS retirement contributions. Do you support a state-funded across-the-board pay raise for all Texas educators? How would you ensure that compensation keeps pace with inflation and remains competitive with other professions?

I support an across-the-board pay raise for all educators. To keep pace with inflation, Texas should annually apply a cost-of-living adjustment (COLA) like Social Security does.

The high cost of health insurance for active and retired educators continues to reduce take-home pay, with educators shouldering the vast majority of their ever-increasing heath care costs. How would you address the affordability and sustainability of educator health care, particularly the TRS-ActiveCare and TRS-Care programs?

To keep healthcare cost increases to a minimum, I would have the TEA and other appropriate agencies aggressively negotiate with the above insurance companies to keep increases to a minimum. I would encourage the health plans to seek alternatives for prescription drugs (i.e., Cost Plus Drugs, Amazon) because the pharmacy benefit managers are driving up costs. I also support Medicaid expansion but don't know if that would apply pressure to these health insurance companies.

Do you believe the Teacher Retirement System of Texas (TRS) should remain a defined-benefit pension plan for all current and future members? If not, what is your plan to provide a secure retirement for Texas educators, particularly considering that state law has been set up such that most districts do not participate in Social Security?

I don't know enough about the issue to have a strong opinion. In general, I favor a defined-benefit pension with annual COLA increases because 401k plans have more risks. The TRS should closely mirror the policies of SSA.

The Legislature has passed a new “through-year” multi-test model under HB 8. What role should standardized testing play in evaluating students, teachers, and schools? Should test results continue to determine A–F accountability ratings or teacher pay?

Standardized tests are needed for evaluation of student learning and to hold ISDs accountable. There are probably better ways to evaluate the ISDs than using the A-F system, which doesn't take into account socio-economic and other important factors. Test results should only be a minor part of a teacher's evaluation and should not affect teacher pay.

Recent legislative debates have focused on “parental rights” in education. In your view, what is the appropriate balance between accommodating the often conflicting wishes of individual parents while maintaining policies that reflect the broader community’s educational priorities and still providing consistency and an appropriate level of professional deference to educators?

I generally support individual parental rights so long as the rights of the individual does not impact the broader community's educational priorities. Parents expect and deserve transparency on issues related to their children's education but it doesn't give them the right to demand changes to established school policies and curriculum. With the advent of school vouchers, those individuals with objections based on religious and DEI beliefs should be less tolerated because the individuals will now have more choices. I do not support any kind of book banning or revisionist views on history.

HB 3 (2023) imposed new school safety requirements but did not fully fund them. Although the 89th Legislature increased the School Safety Allotment, many districts continue to face substantial unfunded staffing and facility costs associated with school safety laws. How would you make schools safer and ensure the state provides adequate funding to meet safety mandates?

My preference is to enact gun safety, education and registration laws and to focus the efforts there. These laws will make schools safer. If Texas wants to mandate safety laws, the state should fully fund the programs.

What do you believe is the proper role of the State Board of Education, the Texas Education Agency, and local school districts in setting curriculum standards and selecting instructional materials?

Curriculum standards and selection of instructional materials should be a partnership among all three entities. The goal would be to reach consensus among the three while leaving some room for local ISD preferences that speaks to the unique needs of the community.

State law allows educators and other public employees to voluntarily join professional associations such as ATPE and have membership dues deducted from their paychecks at no cost to taxpayers. Do you support or oppose allowing public employees to continue exercising this right? Why or why not?

I support allowing public employees to pay their dues through paycheck auto-deduction. This method strengthens the membership, advocacy efforts and voice of educators and others. It's not a replacement for a union but the next best thing.

Additional Comments from Candidate on Survey