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Candidate Survey Responses

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RESPONSES TO THE 2024 ATPE CANDIDATE SURVEY:

1. If elected, what do you believe your primary role and responsibility as a State Board of Education (SBOE) member should be?

My primary role as an SBOE member would be setting curriculum standards, ensuring our students are prepared for the global workforce upon graduation. I would assist reviewing and adopting instructional materials. I would push for curriculum that is rigorous and relevant and ensure that the curriculum keeps our kids moving forward while also addressing the learning gaps so many of our kids face post-pandemic. I would also advocate to remove the STAAR test as a graduation requirement. While I feel like testing is necessary and beneficial for the data it can provide, I feel the way testing is utilized currently is unfair to our students. Students can fail STAAR in 5th grade and get promoted to 6th grade. Students can fail STAAR in 8th grade and get promoted to 9th grade. If students fail STAAR in 9th grade, they can continue to take the test until they graduate. However, if they have continually failed since elementary school, it is unlikely they will pass in high school because they never understood the foundational concepts necessary to build their knowledge. I would propose changes to this system that will ensure all our kids and getting an equitable education regardless of their history.

2. In your opinion, what is the most pressing issue facing public education in Texas?

Currently, I believe funding is the most pressing issue facing public education. Public schools need more money and more resources. Teachers are asked to do more and more with less and less. On average, students are 4.1 months behind in reading and 4.5 months behind in math since COVID. The added stress teachers face trying to get students caught up and stay on track is burning our teachers out. They are leaving the profession faster than we can train an aspiring teacher. Losing so many veteran teachers is detrimental to the success of the students and the profession itself. New, inexperienced teachers can learn a lot from veteran teachers. We have to do better to make the profession enticing to new teachers and rewarding for veteran teachers.

3. What role should educators and educator groups such as ATPE play in policy decisions made by the SBOE?

Educators and educator groups need to be heard. Teachers need to communicate with their elected officials and help them understand the challenges we face every day. I think most would agree that school isn't the same since COVID. Yet, as a society, we just came back and picked up where we left off as if nothing happened. In classrooms, we were expected to do the same thing. The problem is, our kids aren't the same as before the pandemic. I have often said, if you weren't directly involved in education during and/or after the pandemic, you really can't understand the struggles we are facing today. By being directly involved, I mean as an educator, parent, or guardian of school aged children. Things are not the same today as they were before 2020. Teachers need to make their voices heard. Ask for what they need. Educator groups need to communicate those sentiments to lawmakers and policy builders. Unless we speak up, nothing will change.

4. How much weight should the SBOE give to educators’ input when it comes to developing curriculum standards (known as the Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills or “TEKS”) and approving instructional materials?

The teachers are the ones in the classroom with the students every day. Over my 17 years as a classroom teacher, I have seen many changes. I think it is critical for teachers to be involved in developing curriculum standards. In the age of social media and instant gratification, we have to engage our students immediately when they walk in or we will lose them the entire class. Teachers know the gaps our students have right now and can advise how to develop standards to close those gaps while still moving our kids forward.

5. In 2023, the Texas Legislature passed House Bill 1605, which requires the SBOE to review and approve instructional materials that may be used by school districts. What is the right balance between the SBOE and local school districts when it comes to selecting and approving instructional materials?

I think SBOE should review and approve a comprehensive list of approved instructional materials for districts and/or schools to choose from. The district I am running for is very diverse. It represents rural and urban constituents. It represents wealthy and poor constituents. It represents White, African American, Hispanic, Asian, and other constituents. Each demographic is uniquely different and there is no "one size fits all" curriculum that is going to engage everyone. I think it is important to have approved resources, but I think we need to allow districts and schools to choose what is going to best meet the needs of their students.

6. Do you believe our state’s public education system, including current regulations on testing and accountability, graduation requirements, and curriculum standards, enables students to receive a well-rounded education throughout all grade levels? Would you recommend any changes?

I do not believe current regulations on testing and accountability and graduation requirements are fair to our students. As I mentioned in a previous question, while I feel like testing is necessary and beneficial for the data it can provide, I feel the way testing is utilized currently is unfair to our students. Students can fail STAAR in 5th grade and get promoted to 6th grade. Students can fail STAAR in 8th grade and get promoted to 9th grade. If students fail STAAR in 9th grade, they can continue to take the test until they graduate. However, if they have continually failed since elementary school, it is unlikely they will pass in high school because they never understood the foundational concepts necessary to build their knowledge. I would propose changes to this system that will ensure all our kids and getting an equitable education regardless of their history. I would propose we look at a student's overall growth from year to year. I would propose we utilize some sort of cumulative student portfolio to assess student content knowledge. Judging a student on a single test in a single day is potentially setting a student up to fail. A lot of our kids deal with issues outside the school walls. We can't know everything they may be facing that is causing them to have a bad day and therefore a bad test. Yet we are holding them accountable for a single test grade. Furthermore, the STAAR has gotten further and further away from testing mastery on the content, but assessing the student's ability to read and comprehend for all tests. For example, I teach Algebra 1. Many times, the students are able to solve the algebra problem. Their real issue is reading, comprehending, and then attempting to solve the problem. They students are already tested on English. The other assessments should simply be over the content taught.

7. What role, if any, should charter schools have in the Texas public education system?

I fully support charter schools. I think they are great for some of students. It also gives parents options for where to send their kids so they can be the most successful. I do believe since they are publicly funded that they need to be held accountable to the same rigorous standards as public schools.

8. What role should the SBOE play in overseeing charter schools, such as approving or denying new charter applications and expansion requests for existing charters?

I think it is important for SBOE to have oversight of charter schools. I think that it is important to maintain a balance between public and charter schools. I think it is great to have other options for students and families, but I don't think one area should be saturated with charter schools. I think it would be great if some charters moved to more rural areas and provided more options to the constituents that don't live in an urban neighborhood.

9. Do you believe the SBOE should continue to have the authority to review and potentially veto any rulemaking actions taken by the State Board for Educator Certification (SBEC)?

I do think SBOE should have the authority to potentially veto any rulemaking actions taken by SBEC. There should always be an accountability component in any organization. I also think that since SBOE is responsible for the curriculum and instruction, they should have some oversight over the certification of the teachers who will be delivering that curriculum.

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