Video Transcript

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Question: I read that your opponent voted against a bill that would have allocated more funds for teachers' salaries, and I was wondering what your opinion on that was.

 

Wooten: I don't believe we pay teachers well enough, but I think it's even bigger than that. I don't think we pay those who work with vulnerable populations enough in our society. So I'm talking children, daycare, and public education salaries. I'm talking the elderly, the disabled. The individuals that care for them don't make a living wage very frequently.

 

My daughter is a special education teacher in Lewisville ISD, and when she had an infant and a three-year-old, her daycare cost $35,000 a year. Her salary? 70 [thousand, as heard], but that's with bonuses for being a special education teacher who has extra training. So if we want to adequately staff our schools, we better pay them a living wage, where we don't lose all the ones that are of childbearing age because they can't afford to come to work.

 

And we also need to recognize their value. Public education is the great equalizer of opportunity for all Texans and all Americans. And if we don't pay teachers well enough to address these shortages, and the fact that about 50%, I think, of LISD teachers now are uncertified or had to do alternative certification, we're not getting as much in the training of the teachers. Because who's going to train for something for years and years and then make an inferior salary that they can't even live on?

 

So my opponent voting against that: he's a millionaire. He doesn't have to worry about paying the bills. He doesn't have to worry about affordability. I promise you, teachers are struggling right now, and more and more are leaving the field because they can't pay their bills, or some work a second job in order to pay their bills for their family.

 

So my priority: repeal the vouchers and then increase the funding, not just for teachers, but everyone that staffs a school is important. I think the custodians should be paid more. I don't believe it's just the educators in the classroom. We have to pay everyone a living wage so that we can have good people in our schools.