Additional Information

Endorsed in the 2024 Democratic primary election by the San Antonio Express-News editorial board.

Candidate Survey Responses

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RESPONSES TO THE 2024 ATPE CANDIDATE SURVEY:

1. If elected, what are your top priorities for public education?

We need to fully fund public education, prevent the passage of vouchers, increase teacher pay, and better fund TRS

2. Voucher programs take many forms (tax credits, scholarships, education savings accounts, etc.) and are either universal or aimed at specific subpopulations (special education students, low-income students, students attending schools with poor A-F accountability ratings, etc.). Would you vote to create a voucher program of any type to pay for students to attend non-public K-12 schools, such as private or home schools?

Absolutely not

3. In 2023, the Texas Legislature passed House Bill (HB) 3 requiring a number of new school safety measures. However, many believe the Legislature did not adequately increase funding to cover the cost of the mandates in HB 3 or other locally adopted school safety measures. How would you work to make schools safer and ensure such initiatives are properly funded?

I would fight for overall school funding, as well as funding specifically for security. Unfunded mandates are not acceptable. I will also work to pass common sense gun violence prevention measures.

4. Despite a record-breaking surplus of $38 billion during the 2023 legislative session, school funding formulas were not increased to keep pace with inflation since they were last adjusted in 2019. Do you believe Texas public schools should receive additional funding? If so, how should the state pay for it?

Absolutely. Texas is 43rd out of 50 states in per student funding. At minimum, we need to increase the per student allotment by $1000, but we also need to fund using enrollment rather than attendance. I will push to continuously increase funding for education.

5. Texas has faced growing teacher shortages in recent years, with many schools hiring uncertified teachers to fill the gaps. How would you work to ensure Texas public schools have an adequate number of trained and certified teachers?

FIVE

6. Inadequate compensation hampers the recruitment and retention of high-quality educators. Do you support a state-funded across-the-board pay raise for all Texas educators?

Absolutely.

7. The high cost of health insurance available to educators is a significant factor decreasing their take-home pay. How would you address the challenge of rising health care costs facing Texas educators and ensure access to affordable health care?

I have never understood why teachers’ health insurance is provided by individual districts, rather than statewide. The bargaining power as a large group would be a huge cost saver. But I know that smaller districts pay higher rates, and that makes it harder to hire and retain teachers. I would be eager to find a solution.

8. What do you feel is the proper role of standardized testing in the Texas public education system? For instance, should student test scores be used as a metric in determining teacher pay, school accountability ratings, evaluating teachers, measuring student progress, etc.?

Standardized tests should be used to gauge learning. Not to determine pay, or as a metric for school accountability. Also, the standardized tests should not be designed to trick kids, but should be straightforward to measure their actual knowledge about particular subjects.

9. In your opinion, what is the proper balance between accommodating an individual parent’s or student’s wishes and the taxpaying community’s interest in directing and maintaining an optimal educational environment for the student population as a whole?

School districts should continue to expand options within the public school system, but spending taxpayer dollars on unaccountable private schools is an extreme, radical choice that would cost more and provide less for families.

10. Do you believe the Teacher Retirement System (TRS) should be maintained as a traditional defined-benefit pension plan for all future, current, and retired educators, or do you support converting TRS to a defined-contribution structure that is more like a 401(k) plan, in which future benefits are not guaranteed?

I support the TRS pension, but its management and distribution are controlled by the legislature, and therefore subject to the whims of the party in charge. This puts retired teachers at risk. There needs to be permanent legislation to mandate regular COLA raises, etc. Currently, retired teachers would have fared better contributing to Social Security instead of TRS. We need to address this issue for the long term.

11. State law allows educators and other public employees to voluntarily choose to join professional associations such as ATPE and have membership dues deducted from their paychecks at no cost to taxpayers. Do you support or oppose letting all public employees continue to exercise this right?

Totally support.

Additional Comments from Candidate on Survey

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I fully support educators and public education. There are many details that I may not completely understand at this point, but if I am elected, I will work tirelessly in support of the folks who educate Texas kids.