Additional Information

First elected to the Texas House in 2024. Advanced to a runoff for Texas House District 29 in the 2024 Republican primary election. Running for re-election in the 2026 Republican primary.

Supported by one or more pro-public education organizations in the 2024 Texas primaries.

• HOUSE VOTE #1 - 2025: PRIVATE SCHOOL VOUCHERS

  Voted to table (kill) an amendment to place the school voucher on the November ballot and allow voters to decide if they wanted school vouchers. ATPE supported the amendment and thus was against the motion to table.

  House Floor Amendment 3 by Rep. James Talarico (D–Round Rock) to Senate Bill 2 by Sen. Brandon Creighton (R–Conroe) and sponsored in the House by Rep. Brad Buckley (R–Salado), 89th Legislature, Regular Session. During its April 16, 2025, debate on school vouchers, the House voted to table this amendment, which would have placed the voucher on the ballot in November. (Record vote #244. View an official record of the vote in the House journal. The amendment was tabled and thus did not make it into the bill.)

• HOUSE VOTE #2 - 2025: PRIVATE SCHOOL VOUCHERS

  Voted yes on a bill that established an education savings account (ESA) program. ATPE opposed the bill. 

  Senate Bill 2 by Sen. Brandon Creighton (R–Conroe) and sponsored in the House by Rep. Brad Buckley (R–Salado), 89th Legislature, Regular Session. The bill would have established an education savings account (ESA) voucher program. On April 16, 2025, the House voted to pass the bill on second reading. (Record vote #286. View an official record of the vote in the House journal).

• HOUSE VOTE #3 - 2025: SCHOOL FUNDING/TEACHER PAY

  Voted yes on a bill that provided public school funding, teacher pay raises, and allotments for teacher preparation, among other things. ATPE supported the House’s version of the bill.

  House Bill 2 by Rep. Brad Buckley (R–Salado), 89th Legislature, Regular Session. The version of the bill originally voted on by the House provided public school funding through the Basic Allotment, teacher pay raises, and allotments for teacher preparation. On April 16, 2025, the House voted to pass the bill on second reading. (Record vote #286. View an official record of the vote in the House journal.) This version of the bill was stripped in the Senate and replaced with a version that did not provide a significant increase to the Basic Allotment. The Senate version is the version that was signed by the governor.

• HOUSE VOTE #4 - 2025: STUDENT DISCIPLINE

  Voted yes on a bill that provides teachers and administrators with more tools to handle student discipline. ATPE supported the bill.

  House Bill 6 by Rep. Jeff Leach (R–Plano), 89th Legislature, Regular Session. The bill provides additional authority for teachers to remove disruptive students, mandates that removed students receive equivalent instruction or support while out of class, introduces a “return to class” plan, and requires school districts to offer telehealth mental health services. On April 15, 2025, the House voted to pass the bill on second reading. (Record vote #196. View an official record of the vote in the House journal.)

• HOUSE VOTE #5 - 2025: CELL PHONES

  Voted yes on a bill that requires students to put away their cell phones from bell to bell during the school day. ATPE supported the bill.

  House Bill 1481 by Rep. Caroline Fairly (R–Amarillo), 89th Legislature, Regular Session. The bill requires school districts to adopt a written policy that prohibits student use of personal communication devices during the school day, with limited exceptions for students on 504 and IEP plans. On April 23, 2025, the House voted to pass the bill on second reading. (Record vote #425. View an official record of the vote in the House journal.)

• HOUSE VOTE #6 - 2025: TESTING AND ACCOUNTABILITY

  Voted yes on an amendment that would have added an accountability pause to the STAAR testing reform bill. ATPE supported this amendment.

  House Floor Amendment 1 by Rep. Mary Gonzalez (D–El Paso) to House Bill 4 by Rep. Brad Buckley (R–Salado), 89th Legislature, Regular Session. The amendment would have provided a two-year pause on punitive accountability provisions in the Texas Education Code during the initial implementation of HB 4 so that districts could adopt the new testing system without concern over issues such as campus closure or district takeovers, which are closely tied to test scores. On May 13, 2025, the House voted against the amendment and passed the bill on third reading. (Record vote #2255. View an official record of the vote in the House journal.)

• HOUSE VOTE #7 - 2025: PARENTAL RIGHTS

  Voted yes on an omnibus bill, dubbed the "Parents Bill of Rights", which restated existing rights and created new bans, compliance and reporting on various culturally divisive issues.

  Senate Bill 12 by Sen. Brandon Creighton (R–Conroe) and sponsored in the House by Rep. Brad Buckley (R–Salado), 89th Legislature, Regular Session. The bill largely bans diversity, equity, and inclusion practices for public schools, as well as transitioning assistance or student modifications (such as using a preferred name or pronoun), discussion of gender identification, and student clubs based on sex or gender; increases existing consent requirements for receiving physical and mental health care and switches consent for human sexuality curriculum from opt-out back to opt-in; adds new or enhanced state and local reporting requirements for facilities, ISD board members, library records, course syllabi, and suspected criminal activity; restates existing parental rights; requires additional opportunities for parental engagement with school boards and teachers; and creates new grievance processes.. On May 24, 2025, the House voted to pass the bill on second reading. (Record vote #3499. View an official record of the vote in the House journal.)

• HOUSE VOTE #8 - 2025: LIBRARY MATERIALS

  Voted yes on a bill that impacted the rights and requirements associated with school library materials, including those in classroom libraries.

  Senate Bill 13 by Sen. Angela Paxton (R–McKinney) and sponsored by Rep. Brad Buckley (R–Salado), 89th Legislature, Regular Session. The bill requires that teachers and librarians catalog the books in their libraries and post the lists online for parents to review and opt their child out of access to check out individual titles. It bans the inclusion of books in schools that include content that falls under updated definitions of harmful, indecent, or profane, and requires districts to create a library materials review committee if at least 20% of parents and students request it or at the discretion of the school board. The bill provided no funding to accomplish the significant mandates it requires. On May 26, 2025, the House voted to pass the bill on second reading. (Record vote #3580. View an official record of the vote in the House journal.)

• HOUSE VOTE #9 - 2025: SPECIAL EDUCATION FUNDING

  Voted yes on a bill that increases funding for special education by transitioning to service-intensity-based funding, among other provisions. ATPE supported the bill.

  Senate Bill 568 by Sen. Paul Bettencourt (R–Houston) and sponsored by Rep. Brad Buckley (R–Salado), 89th Legislature, Regular Session. The bill transitions special education funding to eight service-intensity tiers beginning in 2026–27, increases extended school year funding, and requires annual school board discussions of special education performance. On May 28, 2025, the House voted to pass the bill on third reading. (Record Vote #3832. View an official record of the vote in the House journal.)

• HOUSE VOTE #10 - 2025: TEN COMMANDMENTS

  Voted yes on a bill that would have required the Ten Commandments to be displayed in every classroom. ATPE opposed the bill.

  Senate Bill 10 by Sen. Angela Paxton (R–McKinney) and sponsored by Rep. Candy Noble (R–Lucas), 88th Legislature, Regular Session. The bill requires every educator to display the Ten Commandments in their classroom. On May 24, 2025, the Senate voted to pass the bill on second reading. (Record Vote #3494. View an official record of the vote in the House journal.)

• HOUSE VOTE #11 - 2025: TESTING AND ACCOUNTABILITY

  Voted yes on a bill that modifies and rebrands the STAAR test. ATPE was neutral on the bill with significant concerns, asking for a pause on punitive aspects of the accountability system and a commission to study the issue further.

  House Bill 8 by Rep. Brad Buckley (R–Salado), 89th Legislature, Second Called Special Session. The bill creates a through-year testing framework and expands commissioner authority over the state’s accountability system, while also placing time restraints on the commissioner to notify districts about changes to the cut scores. On August 26, 2025, the House voted to pass the bill on second reading. (Record vote #76. View an official record of the vote in the House journal.)

• HOUSE VOTE #12 - 2025: TESTING AND ACCOUNTABILITY

  Voted no on concurring with Senate amendments to House Bill 8. ATPE was neutral on the bill with significant concerns, asking for a pause on punitive aspects of the accountability system and a commission to study the issue further.

  House Bill 8 by Rep. Brad Buckley (R–Salado), 89th Legislature, Second Called Special Session. The bill creates a through-year testing framework and expands commissioner authority over the state’s accountability system, while also placing time restraints on the commissioner to notify districts about changes to the cut scores. The Senate stripped out a House amendment that would have reduced testing to the federal minimum. The Senate also added a comprehensive, newly adopted amendment that makes several significant modifications to testing and accountability policy. Read more about the Senate changes here. On September 3, 2025, the House voted to concur with Senate amendments. (Record vote #157. View an official record of the vote in the House journal.)

Candidate Survey Responses

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HAS NOT RESPONDED TO THE 2026 ATPE CANDIDATE SURVEY.


RESPONSES TO THE 2024 ATPE CANDIDATE SURVEY:

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

Increase the base allotment and add a cost of living increase annually

Reduce class sizes

Bring some sort of discipline back into the classroom with the Support of TEA and administrators

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?

I would have a very hard time with voting for this considering that the public schools in our area are stellar. Our district is not a failing district. We should tie Charters and Private school vouchers/ESAs to proximity to failing schools.

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 agree. In Pearland ISD a SRO cost $130k/yr. The reason we didn't have them at every campus was due to cost. I am opposed to unfunded mandates for cities/schools/counties and I will work to close the gaps. We must provide adequate funding for SROs in schools. If the Legislature requires it then we must have a mechanism to pay for it.

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?

I believe that the increase in public school funding of the base allotment should be tied to CPI thus giving the schools a built in increase annually and there should not be any additional funding needed if it is cost of living as other fees and taxes would have increased by that amount through the CPI increase. With the $38B surplus, we should have used some of that money to strengthen Schools, Roads/Bridges, First Responders/SROs and water resources-the basics.

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?

Teachers are leaving the public schools because they have lost control of the classroom and they have increased TEKs. More work with less control. We need to bring some form of discipline back to the classroom and build a better report with parents. Teachers need support in the classroom from administration to TEA.

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?

Yes. A pay raise from the State level would just be another unfunded mandate to schools. It would have to be tied to a revenue stream from the State and required to go directly to Teachers.

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?

The cost of healthcare is not just a Teacher problem, it is a Country wide problem. We desperately need healthcare reform and eliminate the ACA. We need to allow schools to leave TRS and find a more affordable solution as the one they have now is way too expensive and once the school gets in they can't get out. This is very bad for schools.

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.?

I am opposed to "teaching the test" measures. There MUST be other ways we can determine the level of retention. I am not a fan of tying funding or pay to these measures because every class is different. We need to get teachers back to teaching the classroom and reducing class sizes so teaching can become more meaningful to each student in the classroom. We need to find another form of means testing.

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?

The taxpaying community is a means to fund schools. The parents are the ones who should have a say in how their kids are educated. We need to be more open to parents in allowing them to see curriculums. The further away we keep parents the harder it is going to be to build trust with the parents. I believe that trust is what has been lost in our public schools we need to be forthright in gaining the parent's trust again. Once the trust that we are doing the right thing is there then we can really get back to controlling the classroom.

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?

There are risks to TRS and Teachers if Teachers are allowed to pull out their money before retirement. The current TRS system relies on larger amounts of investments to pay for the retirement of existing Teachers and to guarantee the retirement of future Teachers. If Teachers are allowed to pull out their money early then the entire system becomes unstable and could be lost. I am more inclined to err on the side of stability and keep the TRS system.

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?

I would want them to OPT-In to begin and annually upon renewal. If this doesn't cost the taxpayer anything and the educator is not "joining" an association without their permission then I am fine with it.

Additional Comments from Candidate on Survey

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No additional comments