Texas Senate District 19 candidate Pete Gallego focuses on education in public forum

Gallego on the fence about charter schools, supports public education

SAN ANTONIO – With an audience of mostly middle schools students, a forum for the Texas Senate District 19 candidates was held at Compass Rose Academy on the South Side, focused on the future of education in Texas.

“We pay a large amount of taxes into public education, and I would like to see the salaries increased of teachers, the money stay within the school,” said Julie Hilberg, District 19 constituent.

Questions were directed at candidate Pete Gallego, a Democrat who, according to his website, helped pass 300 bills, including legislation that built hospitals and affordable housing. While he's still on the fence about charter schools, Gallego expressed a strong stance on public school education.

“There’s so many communities in Senate District 19, that the public school option is the only option is that they have, so I want to make sure that it’s a great option, that it's a world class option,” Gallego said.

Gallego's contender, Republican candidate Pete Flores, who considers himself a strong conservative with endorsements from Sen. Ted Cruz and Gov. Greg Abbott, couldn't make it to the forum.

He sent KSAT the following statement expressing why he's all for public charter school education:

"Public charter schools have my support. Parents should be the driver of policy in education. And we all want the same for our children, a quality education."

Whoever wins the runoff election would be filling the seat of former Democratic state Sen. Carlos Uresti, who resigned amid his fraud conviction and is headed to prison to serve a 12-year sentence.


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