LOS FRESNOS, Texas - During a recent candidate forum hosted by Raise Your Hand Texas, Texas House District 37 candidate Jonathan Gracia said public education was in crisis.
The Rio Grande Guardian asked Gracia to elaborate on this claim immediately following the forum, which was held at Los Fresnos High School.
“This last legislative session, there was a $4 billion set aside that was supposed to be distributed (to public school districts) across the entire state of Texas. It was not. It was a punitive action taken by the Governor as a result of education savings accounts and vouchers not being passed. That's unacceptable,” Gracia said.
“We need to be able to show our educators across not only District 37 but the state of Texas that they're fully supported. And step number one needs to be for us to be able to release that money, and also to increase that money for our school districts, because it's the right thing to do.”
Gracia, a Democrat from Brownsville, told the Guardian that public education is the main reason he jumped into the race. His general election opponent is state Rep. Janie Lopez, a Republican from San Benito. Lopez did not attend the Raise Your Hand Texas event.
“The catalyst that got me into running for House District 37 was the voucher education savings account issue. My wife is a public-school educator. She has been for the last 17 years of her career. And it was so important for me, not only to show her the support that she deserves, but also all the educators across District 37. Right now, public education is under attack by our Texas Legislature. It’s not being funded properly, and that's one of the initiatives that I want to be able to take care of, if given the opportunity.”
Also, during the forum, Gracia said some people were “playing politics” with school districts. Asked to elaborate, Gracia told the Guardian:
“Playing politics? That’s correct. We had an $18 billion surplus this last legislative session. It's now projected to be anywhere between $20 to $21 billion. That means that the state of Texas has no excuses in order to be able for us to fully fund public education. At a bare minimum, we ought to be able to have that $4 billion set aside allotted (to public education) and hopefully to be able to increase it.”
Asked what issues he is hearing from the voters of District 37, Gracia said:
“We have knocked on 5,000 doors so far. We started back in August of 2023, knocking on doors in the cities and all District 37. So, I've gotten a really good feel for what the district is talking about. The number one issue of all, as always, is the economy. It's the inflationary pressures that our families are feeling across the district and across the entire United States, for that matter.
"The reality is that we need to be able to get those inflationary pressures under control. And, separate and apart from that, we need to be able to support our small businesses here in the community.”
Asked if he hears of different issues in different parts of District 37, Gracia said:
“Sure. If you go out to the Laguna Madre area, which encompasses the island and Port Isabel, they have a lot of environmental issues as a result of SpaceX and also the LNG facility that's coming into play (at the Port of Brownsville). Those are big issues for that particular part of the community,” Gracia said.
“In the city of Brownsville, and the city of Harlingen, they're looking for job opportunities and expansion of small business. And so, yes, it's all encompassing, those issues.”
Raise Your Hand Texas is hosting a series of non-partisan candidate forums across the state. The focus is entirely on public education. Asked why the nonprofit hosts the forums, Giovanni Escobedo, regional advocacy director for Raise Your Hand Texas, said:
"The Texas Legislature shapes the requirements and resources for every public school, its teachers, and students across the state of Texas," Escobedo said. "An informed electorate is important to making sure our leaders put our public school students, teachers, and future of Texas first when they make decisions at the Capitol."
Editor's Note: Here is a video recording of the Guardian's interview with Jonathan Gracia:
