Election 2024 Spotlight: Winning Back an Anti-Voucher Vote in HD 112

After the bruising battles of last year's voucher-focused Legislature and amid an equally unsettling back-to-school season in Texas, we know how critical this November's election is.

We also know exactly what we're fighting to win. Without new leadership that makes public education a real priority, we cannot build the future we want to see: one with public schools funded and supported to thrive.

One of the key races we're watching in Texas is in House District 112, encompassing a large swath of the Dallas suburbs.

Averie Bishop, the first Asian American to be crowned Miss Texas, has earned Texas AFT COPE's endorsement as she challenges state Rep. Angie Chen Button (R-Richardson). As The Texas Tribune reported this month, the race is historic; it is a painfully rare contest between two Asian American candidates, even as Asian Americans have become the fastest growing population in Texas.

The contest, as Isaac Yu writes in the Tribune, illustrates stark generational differences and viewpoints, but it also showcases a distinct divide between the two candidates' vision for a Texas that thrives.

In the 88^th Legislature, Button proved she was no friend to Texas public schools. Her votes don't lie :

• Button voted against an across-the-board $10,000 raise for Texas educators.

• Button voted for expanding the privately run charter school system that is bleeding public education funding dry.

• Button voted against a 10% cost-of-living adjustment for retired educators who hadn't seen a pension increase in two decades.

• Button voted for ending academic tenure in Texas colleges and universities.

• Button voted for banning books in school libraries.

• Button voted for allowing uncertified chaplains to act as school counselors.

And most notably, Rep. Angie Chen Button voted for Gov. Greg Abbott's private school voucher scam.

Bishop, meanwhile, earned Texas AFT COPE's endorsement because of her pro-public education views and her commitment to funding our schools so that students and educators can thrive.

We also admire her for doing what so few elected officials and candidates are willing to do: walking the walk. Throughout her campaign, Bishop has been open about her experience as a part-time substitute teacher in Richardson ISD. She has also met with and listened to the struggles of North Texas members in our Texas AFT United chapter.

As our schools struggle to keep the lights - and the AC on - and our teachers and support staff struggle to stay in their profession, none of us can afford to sit on the sidelines this November. We ask all who care about Texas public schools to get in the fight now.

Head to vote.texasaft.org for information on this November's election, as well as a list of Texas AFT COPE's current endorsements. Make your plan to vote, plug into volunteer opportunities, and donate to our political fund if you can.

Right now, our schools are in a fight to survive. This November, with our votes, we can build a future in which they thrive.

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