All three candidates running for the District I seat on the Houston Independent School District board of education have completed Ballotpedia’s Candidate Connection survey. The survey asks candidates questions aimed to help voters learn why candidates are running and what they hope to achieve in office.
Three candidates—incumbent Elizabeth Santos, Matias Kopinsky, and Janette Garza Lindner—are running in the Nov. 2 nonpartisan general election for the District I seat. Five seats on the board are up for election this year: Districts I, V, VI, VII, and IX.
Excerpts from candidates’ responses to the question, “What areas of public policy are you personally passionate about?” are listed below:
- Elizabeth Santos: “I am passionate about demanding that all students have the opportunity to enrich their lives through public education. Our district–like many throughout the state–has structural barriers in its policy that prevent the stable development of arts programs in schools.”
- Matias Kopinsky: “While the current HISD trustees have been responsible for a $2 billion budget, only half of that money has ever seen the classroom. The board continuously votes to decrease the percentage of money that is spent on its most valuable assets: its teachers. Educators are what make up the backbone of the district and should be compensated properly.”
- Janette Garza Lindner: “In addition to education, a few other policy areas I am passionate about include health care, especially removing the stigma from mental and emotional health services; agriculture and food policy, including improvements to ensure the nutritional value of our food supply is improved and regenerative practices are more widely used; and our country’s energy policy, especially innovation in generation, transmission and storage to meet our country’s needs for the next 100 years”
To read candidates’ full survey responses, click here.
The Houston Independent School District Board of Education consists of nine trustees elected to four-year terms. All board members are elected by district.
Houston Independent School District is located in Harris County, Texas, and is the largest school district in the state.
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