Brett Underwood

Brett Underwood

Personal

Profession

Executive vice president, Trinity Company

Brett Underwood was a candidate for an at-large position on the Lubbock school board in Texas. He was defeated by challenger Laura Vinson in the general election on May 10, 2014. Board President Steve Messengale did not file for re-election of his seat.

Biography

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Underwood was born and raised in Lubbock, Texas. He is executive vice president of the Trinity Company, a cotton storage business that provides storage to West Texas farmers. He and his wife have two children that attend LISD schools.

Elections

2014

See also: Lubbock Independent School District elections (2014)

Brett Underwood ran against challengers Boyd Goodloe and Laura Vinson on May 10, 2014 for the at-large seat.

Results

Lubbock Independent School District, At-large, 4-year term, May 10, 2014

Party		Candidate	Vote %	Votes
	Nonpartisan	Laura Vinson	50.1%	3,682
	Nonpartisan	Brett Underwood	36.5%	2,680
	Nonpartisan	Boyd Goodloe	13.4%	984
Total Votes				7,346
Source: Everything Lubbock, "Election Results (Final) May 10 Lubbock City & School Elections," May 11, 2014

Funding

Underwood did not file a campaign finance report with the Texas Ethics Commission.

Endorsements

Underwood did not receive an endorsement in this election.

Campaign themes

Underwood stated the following as issues facing the district on his website:

“

Closing the Education Gap Every child needs to feel success throughout the school day. The increased high-stakes testing is disenfranchising poor and minority children. Teaching and learning can be done for the sake of learning, not with testing targets in mind. Our schools will not improve until we switch our way of thinking. Unfortunately, correcting this core issue is out of the realm of a LISD board trustee. Although, if elected, I will work on areas of student engagement that counteracts a student's lack of interest and increases his or her achievement. Dropout Rate The dropout rate is the result of student, family, and school factors that collectively disengage students from education. A question every school district deals with is how we re-engage students. LISD has done a great job with investments in early childhood such as Head Start. The Head Start program intervenes early and supports the emotional, cognitive, and social development of children. The program provides school readiness for disadvantaged children and equips them with the social skills needed to succeed in school and in life. Studies have shown that students who leave school prematurely do so because they feel alienated. When the student transitions into and out of middle school we need to offer support in regards to increased counseling for at-risk students. For students to succeed they need help. Help can be in the form of early childhood programs and support systems for students. If elected, I will work on furthering the valuable school programs that pinpoint at-risk students. Special Education By nearly all accounts, the IDEA law has been successful at educating children. More disabled children have access to the classroom and are graduating from high school than at any time in history. Despite the success, there are still inequities in services received by disabled children. The underfunding by both federal and state governments causes resource competition. Additionally, there is a chronic shortage of qualified special-education teachers. I will focus my efforts on making these teaching positions more valuable and make certain that the children's needs are being addressed.

”

Recent news

This section links to a Google news search for the term "Brett + Underwood + Lubbock + Independent + School + District + Texas"

Brett Underwood News Feed

See also

• Lubbock Independent School District
• Lubbock Independent School District elections (2014)

External links

Suggest a link

• Campaign website (dead link)
• Lubbock Independent School District