We have an opportunity to be champions of family-centered community-building by investing in more community schools across Texas.
A community school is a public school that doubles as a hub for families and local organizations, integrating education with essential services like afterschool care, workforce development and economic mobility without creating new layers of government bureaucracy. It’s a bipartisan approach that builds local control, safer communities, and family strength.
If you believe public education should do more with less, community schools offer an evidence-based solution worth supporting. Rooted in the philosophical tradition of pragmatism, John Dewey believed students learn best by doing and that education must serve a larger purpose: to prepare people to live well in society.
Community schools are not new. The first models emerged in the late 1800s and early 1900s, serving as “centers of community life” in working-class neighborhoods. Their mission aligned with the original purpose of public education in America: to prepare citizens for participation in democracy.
Today, that founding vision feels more urgent than ever. As a parent, wife and education leader with over 20 years of experience, I see the daily pressures public education faces. With shrinking budgets, disengaged learners, exhausted teachers and skeptical community members, we must scale what works, and almost every community already has access to a public school. We can envision these brick and mortars as anchors for innovation, economic development, and civic renewal. Anchors for smart governance and fiscal responsibility. Anchors for supporting working parents and their aspirations. Anchors for kids who need play instead of screens. Anchors for true belonging.
Community schools are examples of pragmatic patriotism. By putting families and communities at the heart of education, they fortify our democratic society and enable folks to co-create solutions. They also ensure that every family, regardless of income or background, has access to real pathways to upward mobility.
They also deliver a strong return on investment, reducing future costs through early intervention and resource coordination. Instead of duplicating services, community schools make smarter use of public dollars by leveraging partnerships with nonprofits, food banks, community colleges, and employers. These schools become vibrant town centers, stay open through the long summer months, maximize the impact of state and federal funds and build healthier, more connected neighborhoods.
If you’re a Texan like me and value local control and smart governance, community schools are the solution you’ve been looking for. They advance our Founding Fathers’ ideals by strengthening education, empowering communities and preparing citizens to sustain liberty and democracy. They are serious economic development levers tapping into physical, geographical and intellectual assets already present in our communities, assets that are ready to serve a more intentional purpose. Assets that sometimes just need to be acknowledged so they can flourish.
It’s time to invest wisely as we all deserve a prosperous future and community schools can help us get there; they give us a chance to become neighbors again, to rebuild trust and to renew the promise of opportunity that has always defined Texas.