Daniel Hochman

This page was current at the end of the individual's last campaign covered by Ballotpedia. Please contact us with any updates.

Daniel Hochman

Democratic Party

Elections and appointments

Last election

November 8, 2022

Education

Bachelor's

James Madison University, 1992

Graduate

University of Maryland, 2002

Ph.D

University of Texas Medical Branch, 2012

Personal

Birthplace

New York, N.Y.

Profession

Educator

Contact

Campaign website

Campaign Facebook

Campaign Twitter

Campaign TikTok

Personal Facebook

Personal LinkedIn

Daniel Hochman (Democratic Party) ran for election to the Texas State Board of Education to represent District 7. He lost in the general election on November 8, 2022.

Hochman completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2022. Click here to read the survey answers.

Biography

Daniel Hochman was born in New York, New York. Hochman's professional experience includes working as an educator, medical assistant, certified EMT, volunteer firefighter, pollution control specialist, and research scientist. He earned a bachelor's degree from James Madison University in 1992, a graduate degree from the University of Maryland in 2002, and a Ph.D. from the University of Texas Medical Branch in 2012.

Hochman has been affiliated with the following organizations:

• Association of Texas Professional Educators (ATPE)
• National Science Teachers Association (NSTA)
• National Earth Science Teachers Association (NEST)
• Citizens Climate Lobby (CCL)

Elections

2022

See also: Texas State Board of Education election, 2022

General election

General election for Texas State Board of Education District 7

Julie Pickren defeated Daniel Hochman and Alan Pyeatt in the general election for Texas State Board of Education District 7 on November 8, 2022.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Julie Pickren (R)	60.6	346,419
		Daniel Hochman (D)	37.4	213,742
	Submit photo	Alan Pyeatt (L)	2.1	11,835

---

	There were no incumbents in this race. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 571,996
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team.

Democratic primary election

Democratic primary for Texas State Board of Education District 7

Daniel Hochman advanced from the Democratic primary for Texas State Board of Education District 7 on March 1, 2022.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Daniel Hochman	100.0	58,897

---

	There were no incumbents in this race. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 58,897
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team.

Republican primary election

Republican primary for Texas State Board of Education District 7

Julie Pickren defeated Michael Barton, Danny Surman, and Abolaji Tijani Ayobami in the Republican primary for Texas State Board of Education District 7 on March 1, 2022.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Julie Pickren	50.5	66,229
		Michael Barton	31.5	41,349
	Submit photo	Danny Surman	14.6	19,096
		Abolaji Tijani Ayobami	3.4	4,415

---

	There were no incumbents in this race. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 131,089
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team.

Libertarian convention

Libertarian convention for Texas State Board of Education District 7

Alan Pyeatt advanced from the Libertarian convention for Texas State Board of Education District 7 on March 19, 2022.

		Candidate
✔	Submit photo	Alan Pyeatt (L)

---

	There were no incumbents in this race. The results have been certified. Source
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team.

Campaign themes

2022

Ballotpedia survey responses

See also: Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection

Daniel Hochman completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2022. The survey questions appear in bold and are followed by Hochman's responses. Candidates are asked three required questions for this survey, but they may answer additional optional questions as well.

Expand all | Collapse all

Who are you? Tell us about yourself.

I am a lifelong scientist and educator. I have been boots on the ground, in the classrooms, for many years at every level, and I know what it takes to make a difference in the lives of young learners. I recently won an ExxonMobil/National Science Teachers Association (NSTA) grant to become a district leader for the transition to the NGSS, I have been named top 50 teachers in Galveston twice and nominated for teacher of the year. The future of our state and our country depends on the education of the younger generation. It is an investment in human capital.

I am running this campaign as a full time teacher and single parent of a teenager in Texas public schools. I deeply care about the well-being of students and teachers, who have been under attack by administration and parents. Let teachers TEACH!!! That is what we are schooled, degreed, trained and continue to train for over years. Trust in teachers, who teach for the love of their students and the future, as do I.

I am passionate about being outdoors, love my dog, live music and my Harley-Davidson Fat Boy...let's ride!!

Please list below 3 key messages of your campaign. What are the main points you want voters to remember about your goals for your time in office?

• Texas schools are ranked 39th out of 50 states for educational attainment and 43rd for educational quality, I would say that is a pressing issue. Fully 70% of Texas children cannot read at the 4th grade level. Teen suicide and teen pregnancy are the highest in the nation. While Texas is a majority minority state, with 65% of our 5.5 million students identifying as Black or Hispanic, those groups are 2 times more likely not to graduate from high school. We are failing our children...plain and simple!
• Over the last decade, adjusted for cost of living basis, Texas spending per pupil dropped from Texas being ranked 35th overall to 48th at a rate of a little over $8,000 per student. Multiple new studies reveal that there is, in fact, a direct link between per-pupil spending and student achievement. Reduced spending is reflected in reduced achievement as well. A large part of this problem is TEACHER PAY!! Teachers need to be paid a fair salary that reflect countless hours of hard work of degreed and highly trained professionals. Another aspect of this issue is the insane amount of time and energy spent on standardized testing . $90 million annually for the STAAR exam alone. STAAR must be eliminated as a measure of success.
• Charter schools are an abject failure and for-profit institutions should have no relationship to public schools. If charters want to be a part of the public school system, they need to be beholden to the public standards and requirements set forth by the state. Profit should NEVER be an aspect of public education. There is too much room for manipulation of data and reporting with such a system. Additionally, hard earned public taxpayer dollars should not, in any way, be funneled away from our already hurting public schools to for profit charters.

What areas of public policy are you personally passionate about?

TEACHERS ARE HEROS, NOT THE ENEMY!! Let them TEACH!!

After years of utilizing public education as a cash cow, Texas education quality and attainment rank in the lowest tier of all the states. We have done our children a disservice, which, in turn affects the future of the Texas economy and overall well-being. The first recommendation would be to eliminate high-stakes standardized testing, that have been shown in study after study to be culturally/socio-economically biased. STAAR MUST GO! The state has a $500 million dollar contract with Pearson education. It costs an average of $90 million per year to give the STAAR exams, not to mention the disruption to learning and lost time in the classroom.

Additionally, the current TEKS are out of date, especially in science and engineering. The TEKS are not aligned to scaffold understanding from one grade to the next.

Standards need to switch from test centered to higher order thinking and processing information. Students have access to all the information in the world, literally at their fingertips, so memorizing facts is less important than understanding how to make sense of the information available.

I am also passionate about treating everyone with equal respect and caring. All of our kids need protection and knowledge, especially marginalized groups such as the LGBTQ+ community.

Separately from educational issues, I am also passionate about protecting and saving the environment for future generations.

What characteristics or principles are most important for an elected official?

Number one is integrity. There is so much corruption at every level of public service, it is disheartening. I believe in transparency and standing by one's word. If I say I am going to do something, I am going to give my best effort to get that accomplished. While not always possible, it is the effort that makes the pledge meaningful. Along with that notion comes truth telling. Financial openness, avoiding dark money contributions, and honesty play a large role in public trust. That trust has been violated so many times, that voters have essentially lost faith in the system. I would like to return some of the trust and faith in the system to do the work of the people who elected me.

There is no way to make everyone happy all the time in terms of political decision making. That being said, an elected official owes it to their constituents to be forthcoming in explaining how decisions arose and how it will impact all of them.

Communication is the key. Creating a relationship with people in the district, listening to their voices, and responding as appropriate is so vital to return trust to public officials.

I do not see myself as above anyone and when I get elected, I will be just the representative of the constituents.

What is the first historical event that happened in your lifetime that you remember? How old were you at the time?

There were definitely other events prior, but the first significant event that I recall with clarity was the release of the Iran hostages. I lived on Andrew's Air Force Base in Maryland at the time because my father was an air force officer doing his medical residency at Andrew's. Andrew's is where Air Force 1 (the President's plane) takes off and lands. It is considered one of the most secure bases in the world. All the big tress on the base had yellow ribbons on them in solidarity with the hostages. I didn't understand the politics, of course, or the global significance, but i did understand that people being held captive were finally coming home. The coolest part of this story is that they were to arrive at Andrews Air Force Base. So, our on base elementary school had the opportunity to greet the hostages as they first set foot on American soil after their long ordeal. We all had yellow flags and American flags and were wildly cheering and proudly waving our flags as these folks walked off that C5A transport plane. To this day, it gives me chills thinking about how incredibly special and significant that moment was for everyone involved, and I was there!! In fact, somewhere in the annals of journalistic coverage is a photograph of my elementary school classmates and me waving and cheering. I will never forget that moment and the impact it had on me as a young student.

What is your favorite book? Why?

Guns, Germs and Steel and the follow-up book Collapse both by Jared Diamond. Diamond has a gripping writing style that draws you into his existential postulates of the downfall of great civilizations. In the first book he focuses on the industrial revolution and war, but mixes those topics with something humans had little control over, biological hazards. He theorizes that the vast majority of human history has been controlled by these three issues. Then, he follows up with Collapse, which focuses on the looming threat of environmental change. It is real, it is happening, it has happened in the past, and it will change the face of human existence again. However, the difference is, this time we have caused it and we have the power to stop it, but not the political will to do so. This shortsighted mentality is a modern human epidemic that translates directly to what we are seeing in the current divisive political and social climate we are currently experiencing. Humans can survive and thrive when we ban together in the face of great odds, but when we are divided, and refuse to heed the warnings of nature, we are destined for collapse. I would like to see a world that survives with good people working in concert to solve humanity's greatest challenges, rather than this constant barrage of attacks and hatred and culture wars. It makes me sad, and we are doing a disservice to our future generations. This is true in education and environmental issues among others. We cannot bury our heads in the sand and pretend bad things didn't happen, when learning about those bad things can make us more aware and stronger. Otherwise we are doomed to repeat those mistakes over and over again, leading to more human inequality and suffering.

What is something that has been a struggle in your life?

There are many, my life has not been a cake walk. The single most impactful would have to be single parenting a little girl, who is now almost 17 years old. I learned so much about myself and what I am capable of doing when I felt I couldn't.

I was working on my PhD and single parenting when Hurricane Ike hit Galveston. Our labs were badly damaged and the University absorbed all grants to fund the repairs. My mentor decided to move to UT-San Antonio. I was left with no resources and no monetary support. I began adjunct teaching at San Jacinto College full-time and took on two other part-time jobs just to keep a roof over our heads and food on the table. I was struggling. I didn't see a way to finish my PhD. I had no choice but to pick myself up by my bootstraps and push through.

So, on my own, with no support, I managed to come close to finishing my PhD. Finally, one of the kind hearted faculty members at UTMB was able to rescue me for the last 6 months of the process and I managed to finish writing and successfully defend my dissertation.

I didn't know I had it in me, but I was determined to do what I set out to accomplish, come hell or high water (and we had both!!).

Amazingly, I remained uncaffeinated the entire time.

Now I find myself in a similar situation. Still single parenting, and still working full-time as an educator, and running for this office that I feel is so important. Who needs sleep anyway!

What is the primary job of a school board member in your view?

State Board of Education is quite different from local school boards in their scope and responsibility. SBOE's mandate is to develop well thought out curriculum, adopt textbooks, approve charters for new charter schools, and determine graduation requirements.

Who are your constituents?

My district will serve approximately 1.6 million people in 13 counties of the East Texas corridor, including Galveston County, Brazoria County, and Fort Bend County as the largest regions. My constituents include everyone that is affected by public education in these communities. I intend to serve the needs of all the people in these counties. At times, it may be impossible for everyone to get what they want, but I am hoping that compromise and empathy will go a long way to bridging gaps and coming together for the greater good.

What strategies or plans would you advance to ensure the schools are properly funded?

The State Board of Education has, as one of its mandates, the management of the Permanent School Fund. For years, the financial system surrounding Texas Public Schools has been nothing short of a disaster. Tying funding to attendance, test scores, and the Robinhood requirements have unfairly taken funds from districts that truly need them and given those funds to districts that are already thriving; leaving poorer performing districts with even fewer resources to rebuild and move forward. How this aids the children who truly need help is beyond my comprehension. The entire system needs to be fixed.

Teachers need to be paid a fair salary based upon their education level and years of experience. Teachers are degreed professionals that are required to participate in countless hours of professional development (more than any other profession). Most of the time, those PD hours are gained outside of normal contract hours, uncompensated and un paid for, which leaves teachers with lower salaries unable to maintain their certification.

Education funds should not be a cash cow for political gain. What message does that send? It says our children's future is less valuable than a few bucks in our pockets in the present. In addition, charter school and private school vouchers have NO PLACE being utilized as an alternative to publicly funded schools. Again, this practice takes funding and opportunity away from the needed growth of public schools, especially in depressed areas. For profit schools, as an option to parents, should be paid for by parents that choose to go that route. Other parents and students should not be penalized for those choices.

Note: Ballotpedia reserves the right to edit Candidate Connection survey responses. Any edits made by Ballotpedia will be clearly marked with [brackets] for the public. If the candidate disagrees with an edit, he or she may request the full removal of the survey response from Ballotpedia.org. Ballotpedia does not edit or correct typographical errors unless the candidate's campaign requests it.

See also

2022 Elections

What's on the ballot? U.S. Congress U.S. Congress special elections State executives State legislatures State courts Ballot measures Municipal government School boards Election analysis hub

Government

Who represents me? U.S. Congress State executives State legislators State courts Ballot measures Municipal government School boards

Newsletters

The Heart of the Primaries The Daily Brew The Weekly Brew The Ballot Bulletin Checks and Balances Economy and Society Hall Pass Number of the Day Robe & Gavel Union Station

External links

Search Google News for this topic

Candidate

Texas State Board of Education District 7

Website

Facebook

TikTok

Twitter

Personal

Facebook

LinkedIn