Standing with Public Schools

On November 7, the Richardson ISD Board of Trustees adopted a set of legislative priorities for the upcoming 2025-2026 legislative term.

---

After the election on November 5, we now know who our state legislators will be. In the House, we'll be represented by Ana-Maria Ramos (District 102), Angie Chen Button (District 112), and Morgan Meyer (District 108).

I'm confident that Ramos will support RISD. Her campaign website lists Education as her first issue, and says, "The State Legislature has continuously failed our communities by refusing to adequately invest in our children."

I'm not at all confident about Angie Chen Button. Her campaign website also has a section on Education ("Standing with Public Schools"). But it doesn't identify any shortcomings in the state's support that she will work to change. How many of the RISD legislative priorities will Button champion in Austin? She managed to campaign and win another two years in Austin without answering that question. She supports vouchers using public tax dollars for private schools but avoided the subject during her campaign. Those are signs that that she doesn't, in fact, "Stand with Public Schools."

I'm not at all confident about Morgan Meyer. His campaign website claims, falsely, "The Texas Legislature continued its commitment to fully funding public education investments made in previous Legislative Sessions." In fact, the basic allotment (dollars per pupil) has not increased since 2019. Since then, inflation has eaten away at how much education you can provide for that 2019 allotment. The state has imposed mandates such as safety mandates but didn't provide enough funding to pay for them. If Meyer can't admit to a problem, I have no confidence that he will solve it.