Herrero Responds to Misleading Accusations

Rep. Abel Herrero's Votes Show he Stands up for our Children and Teachers

Herrero Responds to Misleading Accusations

CORPUS CHRISTI, TX—Incumbent Abel Herrero (D-Robstown) responds to more misleading attacks by his opponent. During the 80^th Session, the Texas Legislature passed SB 9, which required all teachers hired prior to 2003 to submit to fingerprinting and criminal background checks. However, the Republican led leadership stripped state funding from the legislation leaving school districts, teachers and school personnel to bare the cost.

"My opponent's accusations are ludicrous, given the fact that I have supported stricter punishment for those guilty of harming our children," said Herrero. "I am a father of four young children and I take nothing more serious than a child's safety. My wife was a teacher for nine years, so I also know the tight budgets that many teachers face. We should not put an additional financial hardship on the backs of our working teachers and school personnel. At the time the bill came for a vote, state funding had been stripped from the legislation leaving an uncertainty of who would foot the bill. To eliminate possible harm to our children, the Republican leadership should have prioritized the proper funding tools to implement these actions rather than attempting to pass the buck to schools and teachers."

Additionally, teacher organizations and school districts locally and across the state expressed concern due to the lack of state funding incorporated into the legislation.

"I highly support criminal background checks for all our employees, but the Legislature cannot continue to pass on unfunded mandates to our school districts and teachers especially considering these hard economic times," said Charley McMath, Superintendent for London ISD.

Only after the legislation passed and with mounting pressure from teacher organizations, did the Republican leadership take steps to allocate funds for these efforts. Rep. Herrero voted for HB 8, 80^th Session, commonly referred to as Jessica's Law, which enhanced the prosecution, supervision and punishment for sex offenses against our children.

Abel Herrero is currently seeking his third term in the Texas House of Representatives serving District 34.