Public Education

Before I ran for office, I was a public school teacher. I taught 6th-grade language arts on the Westside of San Antonio — one of Texas’s poorest zip codes.

When I entered the classroom, the Texas Legislature had just gutted the public education budget by $5 billion — so I had 45 kids in one classroom. There weren’t enough desks for everyone, so some of my students sat on the air conditioning unit.

In the richest country on the planet, I knew that was unacceptable.

My experience in the classroom is what drove me to run for public office. In each of my four terms in the Texas House of Representatives, I served on the Public Education Committee — partnering with parents, teachers, and students to increase teacher pay, improve early childhood education, expand career and technical education, and more.

Because of that commitment to public schools, my colleagues in the Texas House selected me to lead the fight against Governor Abbott’s private school voucher scam — a program that is taking tax dollars out of our public schools to subsidize private education, even for billionaires like Elon Musk. I’ve gone toe-to-toe with billionaires like Tim Dunn, Farris Wilks, and Betsy DeVos, who have been spending their fortunes attacking our neighborhood public schools.

As I see those same billionaires now partnering with DC Republicans to take their voucher scam nationwide and gut the U.S. Department of Education, I’m ready to take my fight to Washington and not only save our public schools — but make them the envy of the world so that every Texas child has a chance at success.

This is not a comprehensive list! If you have policy ideas you want to see from your next U.S. Senator, please reach out HERE. We want to hear from you!

• Boost reading and math achievement: Provide grants and other incentives to encourage public schools to adopt evidence-based strategies like phonics, early literacy programs, and 1:1 intensive tutoring.
• Hire more teachers and equip them with what they need to succeed: Expand programs like the Teacher Quality Partnership, the Supporting Effective Educator Development program, and the TEACH grant that fund and enhance teacher training and are helping to close the teacher workforce gap.
• Stand up to Big Money and fight private school voucher scams: Reject the voucher scams being pushed by billionaire mega-donors that defund public schools to subsidize private education for the wealthiest Americans.
• Secure universal early childhood education and affordable childcare: Establish universal Pre-K for every 3- and 4-year-old, make strong investments in childcare for children under 3, and protect Head Start and the Great Start Readiness Program.
• Support special education students: Protect federal oversight that ensures special education students receive the funding and support they need to be successful. 
• Set students on career paths: Start students on flexible career paths in middle and high school by improving junior college and Career and Technical Education programs.
• Prioritize student health so kids can learn in the classroom: Expand the National School Lunch and School Breakfast programs (because no student can learn on an empty stomach!) and add more counselors to ensure kids have the mental health resources and other support they need in school.
• Ensure AI is a benefit, not a harm, in the classroom: Establish recommended guidelines that can help states and schools safely use AI in the classroom in ways that enhance — rather than hinder — learning opportunities and educational outcomes.

• Overhauled Texas’s school finance system and invested over $6.5 billion into public schools for teacher pay raises, educator training, new literacy and math proficiency initiatives, and more.
• Led the fight against private school vouchers that are defunding Texas’ neighborhood public schools.
• Increased access to early childhood education by expanding Pre-K partnerships with quality child care providers and lowering costs by providing property tax relief for child care centers.
• Lowered higher education costs by establishing tuition and fee exemptions and a public junior college state finance program.
• Passed the first-ever cap on Pre-K class sizes to reduce student-to-teacher ratios and give our youngest students more individualized attention.
• Prioritized mental health in schools by opening up millions of dollars in mental health resources for students and improving trainings for educators on mental health and substance abuse.
• Equipped every public school with Narcan to fight the teen overdose crisis. 
• Improved school safety in Texas by increasing child care providers’ access to active shooter and other safety trainings.
• Supported retired teachers by voting to provide a “13th check” — a supplemental payment on top of their retirement benefits.