Yen Rabe

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

Yen Rabe

Nonpartisan

Elections and appointments

Last election

May 3, 2025

Education

High school

Booker T. Washington High School

Bachelor's

Carnegie Mellon University, 1991

Personal

Religion

Buddhist

Profession

Teacher

Contact

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Yen Rabe ran for election to the Pasadena Independent School District to represent Position 4 in Texas. She lost in the general election on May 3, 2025.

Rabe completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2025. Click here to read the survey answers.

Biography

Yen Rabe earned a bachelor's degree from Carnegie Mellon University in 1991. Her career experience includes working as a teacher and commercial property developer. Rabe has been affiliated with Start School Later.

Elections

2025

See also: Pasadena Independent School District, Texas, elections (2025)

General election

General election for Pasadena Independent School District, Position 4

Incumbent Casey Phelan defeated Yen Rabe in the general election for Pasadena Independent School District, Position 4 on May 3, 2025.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔	Submit photo	Casey Phelan (Nonpartisan)	66.6	4,404
		Yen Rabe (Nonpartisan)	33.4	2,204

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	Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 6,608
= 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.
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Endorsements

Rabe received the following endorsements.

• Rise AAPI

2021

See also: Pasadena Independent School District, Texas, elections (2021)

General election

General election for Pasadena Independent School District, Position 3

Incumbent Nelda Sullivan defeated Yen Rabe and Sunil Nepal in the general election for Pasadena Independent School District, Position 3 on May 1, 2021.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔	Submit photo	Nelda Sullivan (Nonpartisan)	70.8	5,077
		Yen Rabe (Nonpartisan)	23.0	1,650
	Submit photo	Sunil Nepal (Nonpartisan)	6.2	443

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	Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 7,170
= 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.

2019

See also: Pasadena Independent School District, Texas, elections (2019)

General election

General election for Pasadena Independent School District, Position 7

Incumbent Vickie Morgan defeated Yen Rabe in the general election for Pasadena Independent School District, Position 7 on May 4, 2019.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Vickie Morgan (Nonpartisan)	79.1	3,705
		Yen Rabe (Nonpartisan)	20.9	980

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	Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 4,685 (100.00% precincts reporting)
= 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.

Withdrawn or disqualified candidates

• Ted Capistran (Nonpartisan)

Campaign themes

2025

Ballotpedia survey responses

See also: Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection

Yen Rabe completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2025. The survey questions appear in bold and are followed by Rabe'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.

My family and I were refugees from Vietnam. My family was sponsored to come to the United States by the Lutheran Church in Seguin, TX at the end of the Vietnam War.

The opportunity to come to the United States allowed me to obtain an education that I would not have been able to receive if I were still in Vietnam. I am the first person in my family to graduate from college and the only one with a master's degree. Because of this opportunity for an education, I am very grateful and would like to give back by serving my community. I am trilingual. I speak English, Vietnamese & French. And I also speak a little Spanish. Currently I am a Teacher with 24 years of experience. I also have a business background. I have lived in Clear Brook City in the South Belt area for 21 years. I taught at Pasadena High School for 14 years. My daughter attended Frazier Elementary School, Morris 5th grade center, Melillo Middle, Thompson Intermediate and graduated from Dobie High School. I have nephews and nieces who currently attend Pasadena ISD schools. I am also the Houston Area Chapter Leader of Start School Later, a national organization that brings awareness to teen sleep deprivation when middle and high schools start in the early 7 o'clock. The Houston area has the largest cluster of high schools with early start times.

If elected, I will be the first Asian on the Pasadena ISD School Board to represent the more than 5000 Asians and their children in the district.

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?

• If elected, I will be the only Teacher on the School Board. I bring a wealth of knowledge about educational policies, practices, and challenges facing schools today. My experience in the field of education will inform my decisions and priorities as a member of the board, ensuring that the needs of students, teachers and support workers are at the forefront of my agenda. I am dedicated to serving the students and teachers of Pasadena ISD. I can contribute with my experience and background to serve on the School Board for the community by providing effective resources and policies to facilitate student success after graduation.
• Pasadena ISD has a budget this year of $652M but with a budget deficit of $31M over 3 years. As taxpayers, we pay the largest portion of our property taxes to Pasadena ISD. I would like to provide a better oversight of the Administration and the budget to make sure that we are spending our money on students and providing teachers with adequate resources. I have a business background. I majored in Economics and Industrial Management. I am also a commercial property developer. I can help make better decisions on whether to build or renovate. We need to spend taxpayers' wisely.
• I would like to help improve and fix school infrastructure with common sense by renovating rather than building.

What areas of public policy are you personally passionate about?

I am passionate about students' health, academics and safety when it comes to the high school start time. In the 1980's Pasadena ISD high schools started after 8:30 am. It changed to 7:50 in the 1990's and in 2007, it changed to 7:15am which is against the recommendations of (Texas Health Advisory Committee) TSHAC, the CDC and the American Academy of Pediatrics. This is the low hanging fruit to ensure that our students succeed. In the past, Pasadena ISD was the school district families moved to for a good education. I want to return to that era because PISD students have so much potential.
Our students work so hard, partake in extracurricular activities as well as afterschool jobs, we need to let them have time to rest.

Who do you look up to? Whose example would you like to follow, and why?

I look up to my parents who had nothing when they came to this country and where able to support their family through hard work, determination and entrepreneurship.

Is there a book, essay, film, or something else you would recommend to someone who wants to understand your political philosophy?

"Why We Sleep" by Matthew Walker. In our society we value being awake more than our sleep. But it is more important to sleep than to be awake. When I was growing up, I remember the American flag on the TV at midnight and the National Anthem playing. Then, there was no more programs after that. Now, we have 24 hours cable tv, cell phones social media, and video games that keeps students and adults up. And if we need energy, there is an array of energy drinks and coffee shops that never existed before. This is costing us our health as well as our students' health, academics and safety.
Parents need to provide students with an electronic device curfew at night but schools also need to make better policies about school start times.

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

The elected official should serve the constituents and not be self-serving on the School Board. To be elected to this School Board, it takes a lot of resources and funds. Furthermore, this position is a voluntary position with no monetary compensation. That may be why there are no current educators on this School Board. I am passionate about giving back to my community because great Americans who were strangers to me have helped me and I am grateful for being where I am today. That is why I am extending my service in this School Board At-Large position.

What qualities do you possess that you believe would make you a successful officeholder?

I am a caring person and passionate about students reaching their potential.

What do you believe are the core responsibilities for someone elected to this office?

An elected official must be available to his/her constituents. The email on the school district website must be a direct link to the Board Member and not to the Superintendent's Secretary. We provide oversight of the Administration and not the Administration providing oversight of the School Board.
We represent the constituents but when all the positions are at-large, no elected officials are really directly responsible to the constituents.

What legacy would you like to leave?

I would like to leave behind a legacy of serving on the school board by making good policies and proving a good oversight of the administration and budget to allow students to reach their potential.

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

I remembered when my family and I fled Vietnam on April 30, 1975 with nothing except 2 suitcases of clothes. I was 5 years old at the time.

What was your very first job? How long did you have it?

I helped my parents in their convenient store. I worked after school during my high school years.

What is your favorite book? Why?

Why We Sleep by Matthew Walker because it forms the foundation of our health.

If you could be any fictional character, who would you want to be?

Sandwoman, the female version of Sandman to bring sleep and dreams to all those who need it.

What was the last song that got stuck in your head?

Forever young by Rod Stewart

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

When I first got to college, I struggled with my grades. With perseverance and help from classmates and my boyfriend who is now my husband of 32 years, I was able to succeed.

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

The primary job is to make policies that put students' health, academics and safety first. Secondly, the Board hires the superintendent, oversees the budget and the hiring of staff and the administration.

Who are your constituents?

My constituents would be the voters who are the taxpayers and their children.

How would you support the diverse needs of your district’s students, faculty, staff, and community?

To support the diverse population, the School Board, administration and faculty should diverse also.

How will you build relationships with members of the broader community? Which groups, organizations, stakeholders will you specifically target?

I would make myself available by attending public functions such as the PTO, sport events, and being available after School Board meetings. I would like to get feedback from students and parents.

What constitutes good teaching? How will you measure this? How will you support advanced teaching approaches?

Good teaching occurs where students are enthusiastic to learn and they show curiosity. The Board and the Administration need to support teachers to do their job. They know best. We need to listen to them and allow them to provide feedback.

In what areas would you like to expand curriculum? For example, do you see a need for advanced technical training or apprenticeships? What sort of innovative programming would you advance if given the opportunity?

Each school should have technical training and apprenticeship programs, not just one school for the whole district. Students should not have to leave their home schools to learn these skills and they are not left out due to lack of space.
Foreign language instruction is lacking. Only 2 high schools out of the seven offer French as a second language. They only offer Spanish. All high schools should offer more than just Spanish as a second language especially to a population of almost 85% Hispanic students.

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

I would speak up against school vouchers. That is pulling funds out of public schools.
In addition, policies backed by research and recommendations save money in the long-term in students health, academics and safety as well as the employees' health.

What principles drive your policies for safety in schools?

Schools are safer when students are well-rested and have counseling provided for their mental health. Sleep deprivation can be a contributing factor to school violence documented in the Texas Senate Select Committee on Violence in Schools and School Security report.

How might you support the mental health needs of students/faculty/staff?

There should be more education of the importance of sleep and how it is linked to mental health. Research supports that when school starts later, students/faculty/staff get more sleep which supports mental health. Mental health counselors should also be available.

Tell us your favorite joke.

Why do the French like escargots? Because they don't like fast food.

What existing district policies would you like to change, or what new policies would you like to implement?

We should survey the community members and parents for feedback since the district's different school enrollment numbers have changed in order to see what actions should be done to balance the enrollment numbers.

Describe your ideal learning environment for students.

The ideal learning environment for students is when they are well-rested and are well-nourished and they feel safe.

How do you feel like your school district handled the coronavirus pandemic? What, if anything, would you do differently in the future?

The district could have provided a longer period of time that the students can choose to learn remotely. For students who choose to go to school in person, more resources like water and masks should have been provided especially since Pasadena ISD has many low socio-economic students.

What will you do to build a relationship with parents in the district?

To build relationships with parents, I would attend PTO meetings, sports events and HOA meetings.

What are your preferred strategies for faculty, staff, and administration recruitment?

My preferred strategy for recruitment is to consider the diversity of our student body and hire qualified personnel from both within and from outside Pasadena ISD that represent the diversity of the district.

What are your views on financial transparency and government accountability?

The School Board needs to conduct meetings that are more transparent to their constituents. Public comments of items on the agenda need to be after the 1 1/2 hours of closed sessions when the public is at the meeting. And public comments of non-agenda items also needs to be at the beginning of the meeting when the vast majority of the public is attending for recognition and support for a hiring.

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.

2021

Yen Rabe did not complete Ballotpedia's 2021 Candidate Connection survey.

2019

Ballotpedia survey responses

See also: Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection

Yen Rabe completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2019. The survey questions appear in bold and are followed by Rabe's responses.

What would be your top three priorities, if elected?

Students and teachers' health Academics Safety

What areas of public policy are you personally passionate about?

I am passionate about making policies to meet students' needs to in order for them to fulfill their academic potential.

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.

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Pasadena Independent School District, Position 4

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