Issue Position: Strong Public Schools

Issue Position

Texas has a strong tradition of public education. Just about everywhere a school building exists, it's the glue that holds the neighborhood together. That's true here in House District 114, which includes large parts of Dallas ISD and Richardson ISD.

Helping the public schools succeed should be a non-partisan issue that all Texans can get behind.

So how is our Texas Legislature doing on this important mission? Here are a few facts:

* By one respected publication, Texas is 48th in the country in what we spend per student (adjusted for regional cost differences).
* Texas school funding on a per-student, inflation-adjusted basis, was lower in 2017 than it was in 2008.
* While local property taxes have increased in recent years, the state has decreased its share of funding for education over the last decade. As a result, we are facing both higher local taxes and stagnant or lower statewide real per-student funding.

As a lawyer for 88 school districts (including Richardson ISD) John worked for three years in the court system to ask for better funding for our schools.

John knows that it matters to have good teachers in the classroom and good leaders in the principal's office. It matters to have good librarians and counselors on campus. It matters to have good people to tutor after school, and to run the extracurricular programs that motivate and excite kids.

We can't starve our schools of resources they need--and expect to have schools we are proud of and students who are prepared for global leadership.

We must combine strong accountability with strong state support--for our teachers and for the 5.4 million Texas students they educate.

Public schools are the lifeblood of our communities. The Legislature needs to start treating them that way again.

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