The Texas Tribune will host a live conversation on school choice Feb. 16 in Austin.
Four leaders in Texas education, including Ector County ISD Superintendent Scott Muri, will discuss what is best for Texas students at the Tribune event, set for 8 a.m. to 9 a.m. Titled “School Choice: What’s Right For Texas?” it is a free in-person event at the Tribune’s Studio 919, at 919 Congress Ave., on the sixth floor.
It will also be livestreamed at texastribune.org/events and available for on-demand viewing afterward at texastribune.org.
School choice has been debated across the state and is a rising priority in the Texas Legislature. Advocates say families should have the option to use state money to fund their children’s education outside the public school system while some rural Republicans and other public education advocates cite the lack of access to nonpublic schools in rural communities and the fact that public education is largely a hub of employment in many less-populated areas.
Along with Muri, speakers include Laura Colangelo, executive director, Texas Private Schools Association, Michelle Smith, executive director, Raise Your Hand Texas, Randan Steinhauser, national school choice director, Young Americans for Liberty, and Brian Lopez, public education reporter for The Texas Tribune.
Colangelo is the executive director of the Texas Private Schools Association, an advocacy organization representing over 900 private, accredited schools in Texas in the state Legislature and in Washington, D.C. Prior to this role, she was the head of an Episcopal preschool in Austin, focused on providing a quality early childhood educational experience for a historically underserved population.
Muri has served as superintendent for the Ector County Independent School District since 2019. Previously, he was superintendent of Spring Branch Independent School District in Houston, where he oversaw a redesign of the compensation system and recruiting efforts to more effectively recruit and retain employees.
Smith joined Raise Your Hand Texas in 2018 after eight years with HillCo Partners, where she focused on public school finance, school choice, assessment and accountability, facilities funding, transparency and elections. She also was the executive director of the Fast Growth School Coalition for five years.
Steinhauser is currently the national director of school choice for Young Americans for Liberty and the Texas advisor to EdChoice. She is the co-founder of Bastrop CAN: Charter Advocate Network and the founder of Sweetwater Scholé, a classical homeschool co-op that serves more than 40 homeschool families in her community.
