Ballot Spotlight: Texas Lieutenant Governor

As supporters of public education, it is essential that we understand the role that different public offices play in shaping statewide education. The Lieutenant Governor is among the major players of this process. The Lieutenant Governor serves as the presiding officer of the Senate, appoints the committees of the Senate, and decides which bills will make it to the chamber for debate.

The Lieutenant Governor is also the chairman of the Legislative Budget Board, the vice chairman of the Legislative Education Board, and a member of the Legislative Redistricting Board. In other words, this office has a substantial influence on public policy and lawmaking. The Texas AFT Committee on Political Education (COPE) has endorsed Vikki Goodwin for Texas Lieutenant Governor. 

Vikki Goodwin currently serves as the state representative for Travis County’s District 47, a position she’s held for over 7 years. In this time, Goodwin has served on the Committee on Appropriations – S/C on Article III, where she has fought against funneling state tax dollars or public education funds into private school vouchers, arguing that it deprives public schools of their needed resources. Goodwin is also a staunch supporter of gun safety. 

In his 11-year tenure as Texas Lieutenant Governor, Dan Patrick has made a significant impact on public education. He drove the push to cut STAAR end-of-course testing down from 15 to 5 and also passed legislation to install cameras in special education classrooms to prevent physical abuse. However, he was also a major driving force behind vouchers, with Senate Bill 2 giving families the ability to use taxpayer money to pay private school tuition. 

Last year, Governor Greg Abbott and Lieutenant Governor Patrick clashed over their property tax relief proposals, where Patrick’s “Operation Double Nickel” sought to increase the state’s homestead exemption for school property tax by an additional $40,000. This clashed with Governor Abbott’s proposal, which vowed to abolish school property taxes. Through the bickering, however, there’s only one loser, and that’s local school districts seeing their budgets fall with little hope for being made whole by the legislature.  

Despite claiming to have the best interests of education in mind, Dan Patrick has used his position to spearhead political debates surrounding how schools and universities should operate. Dan Patrick led efforts to cut higher education budgets, eliminating the institutional enhancement fund which allocated $423 million to Texas universities. This came after the Lieutenant Governor voiced his frustrations with universities for DEI-related practices, stating that if universities “didn’t kick DEI out of their schools, they’re going to get a lot less.” It is important to note that cutting funding would do more than simply remove DEI, because universities build student services and academic programs around this money. This would also result in the reduction of various courses and high-quality professors, exacerbating brain drain and reducing the economic competitiveness of Texas’ higher education institutions. 

Patrick has also recently asked state lawmakers to investigate ways to further infuse religion into public life, as he believes “there is no such thing as ‘separation of church and state’ in the Constitution” and “the anti-God left has used this phrase to suppress people of religion in our country.” Patrick has supported recent pushes for religion in education, pushing for school prayer periods, and the display of the ten commandments in classrooms. 

By contrast, Vikki Goodwin has authored a substantial number of bills that would strengthen public education in her tenure.  

• HB 351 proposed to raise the basic state allotment from $6,160 to $7,160 per student in average daily attendance 

• HB 430 sought to revise the terminology used to define certain disabilities when determining a student's eligibility for special education programs 

• HB 494 was aimed at expanding pre-kindergarten program eligibility to include the children of all public school employees.  

Goodwin also co-authored HB 528, which aimed to require public schools to provide parents with notices regarding bullying incidents and suicide risk and prevention materials.  

In a time when politics hinders the ability of educational institutions to give students the knowledge needed to navigate a diverse world, it is crucial that we understand how government shapes these institutions and why it is important that we each fulfill our civic duties. Vikki Goodwin has spent her time in office focusing directly on student well-being within Texas schools. This directly contrasts with Dan Patrick’s record, which has been built on fueling ideological wars and driving a wedge between Texans and the public schools that serve their communities. It is imperative that Vikki Goodwin be elected as our next Texas Lieutenant Governor.

Election day is November 3, and October 5 is the deadline to register to vote.