Additional Information

Running for Texas House District 49 in the 2026 Democratic primary.

Candidate Survey Responses

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RESPONSES TO THE 2026 ATPE CANDIDATE SURVEY:

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

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

My top priorities outside of school funding are to guarantee universal, full day pre-K and put more of an emphasis on bilingual and dual language programs, including adopting and recognizing the seal of biliteracy. I believe we must significantly increase per-pupil funding and tie it to cost of living so that every student, regardless of race, income, or zip code can attend a fully funded school. Our teachers, support staff, and paraprofessionals deserve to make a living wage and retirees deserve a pension that keeps with cost of living and robust healthcare benefits. As a formerly undocumented student and a DREAMer, I am vehemently opposed to attempts to undermine students from immigrant communities’ right to attend public schools as well as to curriculum censorship, book bans, and prohibitions of student organizations – all of which demonize and dimmish the identities and experience of Texans of color and LGBTQ+ Texans. I also want to work on providing funding for free and healthy school meals year-round as well as improving funding and support for special education. Last, we must support teacher apprenticeship programs and promote dual credit programs between high schools and community colleges.

2. Public Education Funding:

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?

The state needs to drastically increase its share of public school funding, including increasing per pupil funding, adjusting existing allotments, and adding new allotments that account for emerging needs. The basic allotment has not even kept up with inflation let alone provided any meaningful injection of funds, and increasing it would give districts better flexibility to meet local needs. Additionally, I believe funding should be based on enrollment and not attendance as overhead costs do not diminish just because a student is absent. We should look at using the Rainy Day Fund, which is nearing its maximum amount under law, to make a one-time injection to negate budget deficits and help school districts catch up from chronic underfunding as well as look at how it could be better used systemically. For example, a portion of the Rainy Day Fund could be invested with dividends and interests dedicated to supporting public education. I also believe that we should look at closing tax loopholes and increasing capital gains taxes and business taxes, as well as generating new revenue such as from legalizing and taxing cannabis or instituting a state income tax in order to better fund public schools.

3. ESA Vouchers:

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?

The privatization of our public schools is a travesty. Public dollars do not belong in private schools. I oppose private school voucher scams and believe we should repeal the existing program, not expand it. Private schools do not have the same accountability standards nor are there safeguards that require every student be served, especially those who come from a disadvantaged background, have disabilities, behavioral issues, or may not align with a school in terms of religious background or their doctrine on LGBTQ families. Additionally, other states’ voucher programs have seen rampant corruption and misuse of funds while academic performance has actually declined. Similarly, I am not supportive of the expansion of charter schools and strongly believe that neighborhood public schools with elected boards, transparency, and taxpayer accountability must be the priority for funding.

4. Teacher Recruitment and Retention:

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?

We will not be able to recruit and retain educators if we do not have competitive pay, good benefits, a secure retirement, and working environments that are conducive to success and free from partisan attacks and harassment. Educators need more time for lesson planning and less administrative burdens. I am a strong supporter of Grow Your Own programs, which recruit and train educators from within our own communities. In the same way, the Seal of Biliteracy recognizes multilingual students and helps develop a diverse, locally rooted teaching workforce. I also believe that we can provide for stronger partnerships with local community colleges, four-year universities, and through dual credit in high school to make it easier and more affordable to get the training needed. Additionally, mentorship programs, apprenticeships, and stepping up workload all help reduce burnout and increase retention, especially as we see a lot of educators leave the profession early in the most formative parts of their career.

5. Educator Pay and Benefits:

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?

When I taught bilingual pre-K in Austin ISD, I had to work a second job to make ends meet. I am intimately aware and passionate about the need to provide living wages to our teachers, support staff, and paraprofessionals. I would fight for a state-funded across-the-board pay raise for education professionals as one of my top priorities. I believe that by raising pay, tying it to inflation, and adjusting for regional cost of living we would go a long way to remain competitive while also improving recruitment and retention.

6. Educator Health Care:

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?

Even as salaries lag behind inflation and what is offered in other states, Texas educators are expected to pay more for healthcare via increases in their premiums. This is unacceptable. I support systemic funding from the Legislature to have the state cover that burden and not our local districts, and especially not the educators themselves. Similarly, with respect to retirees, after a hard-fought win with respect to a cost-of-living adjustment for annuitants we cannot simply turn around and negate that by letting healthcare costs eat the benefit provided by the COLA. As healthcare and housing make up a larger share of Texan’s personal budgets, we must ensure that we are adjusting funding accordingly to provide robust benefits for education professionals and retirees.

7. Retirement Security:

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?

A defined benefit plan is the gold-standard of pension plans and ensures that education professionals receive a secure retirement and not one that is tied to the market. I believe we need to increase funding for TRS so that its long-term actuarial soundness is never in question and so that annuitants can receive benefits that keep up with inflation. Additionally, we need to increase funding for TRS-Care to ensure that retirees do not see rising premiums outstrip even the modest gains in the recent cost of living adjustment. In previous legislatures we have seen the COLA simply be offset by changes to healthcare formulas. That is unacceptable to me.

8. Accountability and Assessment Reform:

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?

High stakes testing does not measure learning or growth, and that is its fundamental flaw. We must end our overreliance on high stakes testing and use metrics that measure learning, student growth, and otherwise. Similarly, the increased use of AI in grading has proven to be problematic, and at a minimum, the TEA should cover the cost of rescoring as opposed to the local districts. Additionally, the reductive manner of the A-F system misleads the public as to the quality of their local districts and distracts from matters that could actually be improving.

9. Parental Rights and Community Voice:

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?

At its core, public education is rooted in shared responsibility, inclusion, and a commitment to preparing all students to participate thoughtfully and respectfully in a diverse democracy. While individual parents’ concerns should be heard and respected, policies must be guided by the needs of all students and the values of the broader community, not the loudest or most aggrieved voices. I believe it’s imperative to respect teachers’ expertise and maintain consistent, research-based best practices and established standards. At the same time, we must advance equity and enforce civil rights protections to ensure every student’s needs are met, while fostering trust and collaboration with families and the community.

10. School Safety:

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?

School safety is a large concern for families, whether it's physical safety or mental health. I believe that the state should fully fund any proposed school safety initiatives as opposed to passing any additional unfunded or underfunded mandates. Additionally, I believe we should emphasize and fund programs that promote social-emotional learning and conflict resolution, while increasing the number of counselors and LSSPs available on campuses, including bilingual professionals.

11. Curriculum and Local Control:

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?

I am strongly concerned with the book bans, curriculum censorship, and weakening of standards on accurate history, current events, and the ability of students to see their identities represented in what is being studied. I am opposed to TEA takeovers, to allowing charters to operate public school campuses, and to any law that circumvents or conditions local control. The state’s proper role is to provide adequate funding so that districts are able to meet local needs, not micromanage or undermine their decision making.

12. Educator Rights and Professional Associations:

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?

Yes. We have seen proposals to prohibit dues checkoff in every recent legislative session, often by providing carve outs for certain public safety unions or otherwise in order to weaken the coalition of opposition. I am vehemently opposed to this attack on the ability of workers to organize and participate in organizing efforts without undue interference. Workers deserve the freedom to join together and advocate for fair wages, safe working conditions, and dignity on the job without political interference or barriers imposed by the state.

Additional Comments from Candidate on Survey

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I came to this country with my mother and sister, undocumented and not speaking a word of English. My mother worked three jobs and always taught us that education is the one thing no one can take away from you. Public education changed my life, and one of my teachers, Mrs. Hernandez, is why I decided to become a bilingual pre-K teacher. I graduated from Anderson High School, did my basics at ACC, and obtained both my bachelor’s and master’s degrees from the University of Texas. I became a National Board Certified teacher and taught for 8 years in Austin ISD. Later, I rose to lead as Vice President of Education Austin and became the first Latina elected as Secretary-Treasurer of the Texas AFL-CIO. For the past four years I had the honor of serving in the Biden-Harris administration where I oversaw programs that expanded opportunity for over 5 million English learners and obtained student loan forgiveness for over 1 million public servants. With Reps. Hinojosa and Talarico both seeking higher office, I believe it is imperative that the Austin delegation have a strong voice on public education and a fighter for our students, educators, and Austin ISD. I’ve spent 25 years fighting for students, teachers, and working class Texans at the local, state, and national level – and that is what I will continue to do if elected to serve the people of HD 49.