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Paul Saldaña
Paul Saldaña is a former member of the Austin School Board in Texas. He represented District 6 from 2015 to 2017.
Biography
Saldaña is a campaign consultant and activist. He has spent more than 20 years in municipal government and public policy. He also served as the chief of staff for the first Hispanic Mayor of Austin, Gus Garcia. He is the president and principal of Saldaña Public Relations.[1]
Elections
2014
The November 4, 2014, general election in Austin Independent School District featured five seats up for election. The District 1 race featured four candidates; P. Kevin Bryant, Edmund T. Gordon, Stanton Strickland, and David “D” Thompson competed for the seat held by Cheryl Bradley. Since neither Gordon nor Thompson garnered 50 percent "plus one" or more of the vote, they faced each other in a runoff election on December 16, 2014. Gordon triumphed over Thompson in that race.
The District 4 race featured newcomers Julie Cowan and Karen Zern Flanagan, as incumbent Vincent Torres did not file for-election. Cowan triumphed over Flanagan in that race. The District 6 race featured three candidates; Kate Mason-Murphy, Monica Sanchez, and Paul Saldaña vied for the seat held by Lori Moya. Mason-Murphy and Saldaña headed to the runoff election, where Saldaña was victorious.
The lone incumbent to file for re-election was Robert Schneider in District 7. He defeated challenger Yasmin Wagner. Meanwhile, the at-large position held by Tamala Barksdale drew five challengers; Nael Chavez, Kendall Pace, Kazique J. Prince, Hillary Procknow, and Andy M. Trimino competed for that seat. Neither Pace nor Procknow received a majority of the vote, so they competed in the runoff election. Pace defeated Procknow in that election.
Results
Runoff election
| Party | Candidate | Vote % | Votes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nonpartisan |  Paul Saldaña |
53.2% | 3,059 | |
| Nonpartisan | Kate Mason-Murphy | 46.8% | 2,691 | |
| Total Votes | 5,750 | |||
| Source: Travis County Clerk, "Austin Independent School District Cumulative Results," accessed December 30, 2014 | ||||
General election
| Party | Candidate | Vote % | Votes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nonpartisan | Paul Saldaña |
35.2% | 5,550 | |
| Nonpartisan | Kate Mason-Murphy |
34.2% | 5,394 | |
| Nonpartisan | Monica Sanchez | 30.6% | 4,822 | |
| Total Votes | 15,766 | |||
| Source: Travis County Clerk, "Austin Independent School District Cumulative Results," accessed December 30, 2014 | ||||
Funding
Candidates must file reports with the Texas Ethics Commission or the appropriate county clerk. They must disclose the amount of each contribution (or the value and nature of any in-kind contribution), the name and address of the individual or political committee making the contribution and the date of the contribution. Filers must also report all expenditures, including the date of an expenditure, the name and address of the person to whom the expenditure is made and the purpose of the expenditure.[2]
As of September 30, 2014, Saldaña had not filed a campaign finance report with the Travis County Clerk.[3]
Endorsements
Saldaña was endorsed by Education Austin, the Austin Central Labor Council, the Worker's Defense Action Fund, the Laborers' International Union of North America (LiUNA) Local 753 and the Liberal Austin Democrats (LAD).[4]
Campaign themes
Saldaña stated the following regarding his campaign themes on his website.
| “ | I care about public education because I know that it defines our quality of life. It’s absolutely important that we elect leaders who will serve as strong voices for our children, families, teachers and neighborhoods. As a former Tri-Chair of AISD’s Community Committee on Neighborhoods and Schools I joined fellow community leaders in recommending that AISD communication practices do more to inspire trust that community voices are valued and that input matters. We live in a city with tremendous resources and yet we find ourselves with groups of students achieving below the state averages. We must continue to be proactive and work in partnership with the District, parents, students and teachers to ensure that every child in AISD is successful. As a Trustee, I will honor our community values and be an active listener. I will ensure transparency, open communications and create meaningful citizen participation to serve you with integrity, because I know first-hand that our children and voices matter. Among my issues and priorities: • Inspire TRUST that community voices are valued and that input matters. I’ll be a strong advocate to ensure we create opportunities for meaningful participation of our community in the decision-making process, especially future decisions related to the Facilities Master Plan. This means active listening, transparency, inclusive and open communications with AISD stakeholders. • Work in partnership with our District and our community of parents, students and teachers to learn about best practices to address academic achievement gaps and improve graduation rates to ensure the academic success of every student in AISD. • Work with local and state leaders to address Public School Financing. The overall FY2015 budget, counting food and debt services, totals more than $1 billion. But under Texas’ school finance laws, $175.5 million must be sent to the state to subsidize property-poor school districts, reducing the amount of money the Austin district can spend locally. Unfortunately AISD’s payment to the state is 17 percent of the entire Austin district’s tax revenue — and more than any other school district in Texas. Balancing the AISD budget in the future will only become more challenging. • I support district funding for full-day Pre-K in AISD. Children in our District deserve to have access to our public education system as early as possible to ensure they are prepared for educational success. • I followed the Legislative Process associated with HB2824 and the growing coalition and discussion to oppose high stakes/standardized testing and the interest to seek out other alternatives. The application of testing has financial implications on local school districts, and creates tremendous anxiety and stress for both our students and teachers. Tests do not give an accurate depiction of a student’s academic success. We should instead focus on empowering our teachers in the classroom to provide academic support to our students to ensure that they are successful. Clearly there are other ways for teachers to assess our student’s success. • I support reducing testing and test preparations in the classroom. I welcome the opportunity to be part of the growing coalition and discussion to oppose high stakes standardized testing. We should be seeking alternatives. • I support giving parents the choice of opting out of high stakes standardized testing and believe more work can be done by our District to ensure parents are aware of their parental rights and options. • I support the promotion of creative thinking and project-based learning with the full understanding that our students represent various cultural values and perspectives. Our students are not monolithic and our students’ success should not be solely based on multiple choice testing. • Given that for every one in three AISD students, English is not their first language and that our English Language Learner population has grown by 35 percent over the past five years and now comprises 29 percent of our student population, I will be a strong advocate for improving Bilingual and Dual Language programs and providing additional resources where needed. • I will be a strong advocate for improving special education and learning disability programs and for providing additional resources where needed. • We are at a critical juncture as a District with the hiring of a new Superintendent. It will be important to have a new Superintendent with a proven, successful track record of managing and operating a school district with similar AISD demographics. And we will need a Superintendent who will embrace and accept our local community values of inclusive, transparent, and open communications. I’m seeking a new leader that will place the needs of AISD above their own, and one with a proven history of successful working relationships with parents, students and teachers. • And finally, let me say that I will be a strong advocate for our labor unions, especially our teachers’ union. We cannot put students first, if we’re placing teachers last. I support 3-year contracts for all teachers and certified employees and a minimum wage of $11 per hour or higher for classified employees.[5] |
” |
| —Paul Saldaña's campaign website (2014)[6] | ||
Recent news
This section links to a Google news search for the term "Paul + Saldaña + Austin + Independent + School + District + Texas"
See also
External links
Footnotes
- ↑ Paul Saldaña for AISD District 6, "Meet Paul," accessed October 14, 2014
- ↑ Texas Ethics Commission, "Campaign Finance Guide for Candidates and Officeholders Who File With Local Filing Authorities," September 1, 2013
- ↑ Travis County Clerk, "Search Campaign Finance Reports," accessed September 19, 2014
- ↑ Paul Saldaña for AISD District 6, "Endorsements & Supporters," accessed October 14, 2014
- ↑ Note: This text is quoted verbatim from the original source. Any inconsistencies are attributable to the original source.
- ↑ Paul Saldaña for AISD District 6, "Issues," accessed October 14, 2014
