Education changed everything for Montserrat Garibay. And she has used that knowledge to organize and uplift others — from defending Austin’s prekindergarten programs years ago from budget cuts, to advocating for workers in the Texas Capitol, to championing bilingual students as a U.S. Department of Education official in the Biden administration.
“To me, coming to the U.S. as an undocumented child and not speaking a word of English, education totally transformed my life,” said Garibay, a former bilingual educator and labor leader who became a U.S. citizen in 2012. “My mother used to work three jobs, and she told us the only thing that will change your life is education, and it has. It’s the bedrock of our democracy and it’s worth fighting for.”
Garibay earned our recommendation in the packed Democratic primary for Texas House District 49 because she is ready for that fight. In a state where some lawmakers are more inclined to attack and politicize public education than properly fund it, Garibay brings the expertise and track record in the trenches to champion quality schools.
Central Texas especially needs such an advocate now. Two of the strongest defenders of public education in the Texas House are leaving their Austin-based seats: District 49 Rep. Gina Hinojosa is running for governor, and District 50 Rep. James Talarico is running for U.S. Senate.
Garibay recognizes education shouldn’t be a partisan issue: Texans of all stripes want quality schools. The hard work of championing good policies comes from building rapport with key players and making a data-driven case for “why this needs to happen and how it’s going to benefit our entire state,” she said.
“If we don’t have a strong education — if we don’t invest in our young students now — we will be paying for it later, in building jails and detention centers,” Garibay added.
The high-quality roster of candidates for this Central Austin seat made us wish we had more endorsements to give. Robin Lerner, an attorney who started her career in the conflict-ridden Balkans, impressed us with her pragmatic focus on achievable policy wins. Gigs Hodges and Josh Reyna bring crucial Capitol know-how from working as legislative staffers, while former Austin City Council member Kathie Tovo understands the painstaking care that goes into crafting policies.
And we appreciated the urgency and creative solutions we heard from nurse practitioner Kimmie Ellison, electricity regulation attorney Daniel Wang and longtime Democratic organizer and actor Sam Slade.
But voters can pick only one in the March 3 Democratic primary — the contest that will decide the seat, as no Republicans are running. And in our view, Garibay brings the conviction, experience and strategy needed to make education work for all Texans.