Chandra Villanueva oversees Every Texan’s policy and advocacy work. She joined Every Texan in 2010 and focused on school finance and education policy ranging from early education to higher education access and success. Prior to joining Every Texan, Chandra was the manager of Advocacy and Public Policy with the Women’s Prison Association (WPA) in New York City. At WPA, she educated formerly incarcerated women on the legislative process and researched options for pregnant women in the criminal justice system. Chandra has also served as a Bill Emerson National Hunger Fellow with the Congressional Hunger Center with placements in Tucson, Arizona and Washington, DC. Chandra earned a Master of Public Administration from New York University’s Robert F. Wagner Graduate School of Public Service, and a Bachelor of Arts from The Evergreen State College in Olympia, Washington.
Policy areas: School Finance, Pre-K, Bilingual Education
Where to find me during session: The Legislative Reference Library
My surprising hobby: Circus things, including the trapeze!
This op-ed was co-authored by Every Texan’s Economic Opportunity Program Director Chandra Villanueva and Texas AFT president Zeph Capo for the San Antonio Express-News. While we’re all paying higher prices at
Read our full joint report with Texas AFT about the underfunding of Texas schools here. Texas AFT and Every Texan released a report highlighting “The Lost Decade” in Texas, a
The American Rescue Plan Act’s State Fiscal Recovery funds are intended to respond to COVID-19 health needs or the pandemic’s negative economic impacts, provide premium pay and other support for
This column was originally featured in the Dallas Morning News. When school budgets get tight, property-wealthy districts are often quick to blame the primary equity tool of the school finance
Every Texan opposes SB 1, because it puts tax cuts before kids by accelerating the costly elimination of the Tier I M&O property tax rate that was put in place
Every Texan opposes SB 91, which accelerates the elimination of the Tier I M&O and harms the state’s ability to fully support public education when our schools are facing more
The American Rescue Plan (ARP) Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief Fund (ESSR III) provides over $12 billion to Texas for public education. For the U.S. Department of Education to
Texas is home to over 1 million emergent bilingual students that represent 70 different home languages. That’s 20% of all students in Texas public schools. This legislative session, several positive
Every Texan opposes SB 28. Texas voters already have too little oversight over of the placement and expansion of charter schools. This bill limits the role the elected SBOE has
Read our full joint report with IDRA about Learning English in Texas here. Long before its founding in 1845, Texas was a multilingual state. Currently, Texas educates the second-most students
