HARDIN COUNTY, Texas — Public education was the main focus of the Raise Your Hand Texas forum held for the candidates running for State Representative of District 18 in Lumberton.
The seat covers Hardin, Liberty, San Jacinto and part of Montgomery Counties.
Incumbent Ernest Bailes will run against Dr. Stephen Missick, Janis Holt and Shanna Steele.
Holt wasn't at the meeting, held at the Lumberton Municipal Utility District, but she will be back in town on Thursday.
Steele is running as a libertarian while Bailes, Missick and Holt are all republicans.
"We have to help those kids that need the help the most," said Bailes.
Bailes has been the District 18 representative for eight years. He opposes the school voucher plan that Governor Abbott backs.
"Vouchers are ultimately why we did not get the funding for our public education that we should have. It was take all or get nothing and when we killed vouchers with an amendment, the author of that bill actually pulled the whole bill and never even gave the rest of those an opportunity to get voted on," he said.
Fellow republican candidate and 30-year army veteran Missick, supports school choice. He says he also experience teaching, while he was on his doctorate. He points to the flaws of the STAAR test.
"It shouldn't consume the entire school year like it does now. It should be about getting a quality education and setting our children up for success, not learning how to take a STAAR test," Missik said.
Steele was the only libertarian candidate in attendance. She believes the school choice bill is necessary, along with the elimination of property taxes and STAAR.
"I know it is difficult to eliminate property taxes because most of that is supposed to go to school funding. But I think that increasing the GDP... we can still fund our schools," said Steele.
Candidates will have to get past the primary election on March 5, before making it to the ballot in November.