No to vouchers: District 77 candidates discuss key Texas education, workforce issues

The four Democrats vying for the District 77 seat in the Texas House of Representatives are united on at least one thing: No school vouchers.

At a forum , hosted by the El Paso Chamber and Austin-based education advocacy group Raise Your Hand Texas, on Feb. 15, the candidates fielded questions before a sparse crowd at the El Paso Community Foundation Room in Downtown El Paso.

All four candidates were in attendance: former El Paso County Commissioner Vince Perez, former state Rep. Norma Chavez, former El Paso city Rep. Alexsandra Annello and businessman Homer Reza.

The night provided an overview of how Democrats are mulling education and economic issues ahead of the Super Tuesday primary on March 5.

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Here are some of the key takeaways from Thursday's forum.

Vouchers a 'bad deal' for Texas, El Paso

Gov. Greg Abbott spent a lot of time — and money — pushing for school vouchers across last year's regular legislative session and four special sessions, all to no avail.

With its multi-billion dollar budget surplus, the state doled out $18 billion in property tax relief. It also set aside $4 billion for additional school funding and $500 million for a voucher program, but that money is sitting idle until legislators pass Abbott's coveted voucher program.

But Democrats vying for the District 77 seat unanimously agreed that the voucher proposal has to die and that funding should go back into Texas' public schools.

"Vouchers are just a bad deal for El Paso and they're a bad deal for Texas," Perez said, noting that the program siphons money out of public schools to prop up private schools.

Perez noted that 52% of students in Texas public schools are Latino, which exposes "hints of racism" in the state's voucher plan.

For his part, Perez said the state should increase per-student allotments from $6,500 to $7,500, which he said would generate millions in new revenue for public schools.

Both Chavez and Reza agreed, saying they oppose vouchers and would like to see the set-aside funding put back in public schools.

For her part, Annello asserted that vouchers are "immoral" as they prop up school systems who have no mandate to serve at-risk students.

"Private schools are not required to provide special education courses, they're not required to provide (English as a Second Language)," she said. "The answer to fixing the public school (issue) in this state is increasing the allotment."

'Bridging the education gap' with universal Pre-K

While Texas has taken strides toward providing more funding for pre-kindergarten programs across the state, there is still no universal, full-day program open to all Texas youngsters.

The District 77 candidates agree that has to change.

"I want to make sure every child has an equal education opportunity," Reza said, voicing his support for funding for pull-day pre-kindergarten programs. "By ensuring every child has access to full-day pre-kindergarten, you're actually bridging the education gap between a disadvantaged student and his more advantaged peers."

Perez, meanwhile, noted that an underfunded pre-kindergarten program means that already-cash-strapped school systems are subsidizing half of each students' day — providing a state-funded full day of pre-kindergarten classes would free up $8 million in the El Paso region alone, he said.

Chavez noted that the state currently has $20 billion in a rainy-day fund that could be used to prop up the state's underwhelming pre-kindergarten program.

"We need to help the working families, single parents," she said. "It's an opportunity for us to help bootstrap and get these students in the pre-k program."

Attracting talent to El Paso's workforce

When it comes to workforce development in the borderland, the candidates were once again sounding the same notes.

Chavez talked about her seniority and experience dealing with workforce trends during her previous seven terms in the Texas House of Representatives.

"Enhancing workforce development has always been a priority to me," she said.

Chavez noted that to bolster the workforce in El Paso and across the state, Democrats will have to work with business chambers, stakeholders and, perhaps most importantly, the Republicans who maintain control of the Texas Legislature.

Annello noted that the question of workforce development is directly tied to education.

"Making sure we have a strong pre-k to 12 pipeline is extremely important," she said, "but also working with our higher education institutions."

Reza and Perez shared a similar sentiment, with Perez noting that only 18% of eighth grade students are completing college degrees within 10 years of their high school graduation date.

"Our community is not going to prosper unless we improve those stats," he said.

Both support establishing a law school in El Paso, currently the largest city in the country without one, something El Paso legislators have been pushing for over several past legislative sessions.

This article originally appeared on El Paso Times: Candidates talk education, workforce in Chamber's District 77 forum