Many alumni still roam the building while some who graduated never dipped their feet back into McNeil’s halls. Not many can say they’ve walked onto new school grounds and served to educate, then took those skills to further educate on the realms of a court floor. Though one of the few who can say they’ve done so is no other than State Representative James Talarico himself.
Before being able to go through such captivating career transitions, Talarico contently attended McNeil High School all four years of his high school career. Talerico shares that he took a debate course and theater. He claims he was a prominent team player on the debate team.
Talarico was in theater during his junior and senior years. Current theater teacher Aaron Johnson taught him. Talarico was a part of a few productions at McNeil. Including “The Lion, the witch, and the wardrobe”. In this production, Talarico played the part of Aslan.
“I remember he had a very presentational way of talking,” theater teacher Aaron Johnson said. “And whenever we’d visit with each other we would make this joke that he just sort of played the same character for all of his parts. Because he was Aslan and then he played Dannie Zuko in Grease.”
Talarico suggested his participation in electives was the highlight of his high school career. A lot of the interest Talarico took in high school has rubbed off on him, and the skills learned through those interests show. Theater production and debate have given Talarico the skills to speak and project his ideas and his stance on topics that he chooses to share with his followers. It’s clear to see that learning these interests allowed Talarico to take on a knack for teaching and sharing.
“He was a really great leader and was extremely well-spoken,” Johnson said. “He was just a deeply caring kid. You could just tell he just has boundless empathy for people.”
This boundless empathy just might be the reason why Talarico later took on such a quest of helping schools give students the proper education that he believes they deserve. His well-spokenness is used to speak out for others who may feel as if their voices aren’t loud enough to be heard or may just be dismissed.
“Preparing for weekend debate tournaments was one of my favorites,” Talarico said. “I also like looking back on my last homecoming experience. I was on the court and remember walking onto the field with my family.” The electives Talarico was involved in during high school seemed to have some influence on Talarico’s later degree and career choices. His enjoyment of fine arts led Talarico to earn a bachelor’s art degree from the University of Texas at Austin. His passion for teaching others led him to earn a master’s degree in the Arts of Education from Harvard University. An Arts Education degree allows teachers to teach visual arts in grades from elementary through high school. This degree is also helpful when it comes to engaging students in lessons. From a theater production class to two art degrees, now to an educator and politician. It is clear to see that Talarico thrives in a world of art that allows him to continue educating others. Talarico is quite fond of revisiting his high school memories, he was very excited about speaking on his high school experience and was very quick to respond to questions.
Talarico expressed that his high school experience is what drew his attention to becoming a teacher. After earning a bachelor’s degree in government from UT-Austin and a master’s degree in education policy from Harvard University. Talarico began his teaching career at Rhodes Middle School in San Antonio, Texas. He expressed warmly that he loved all of his students, though he was not a fan of the environment in which these kids were.
Kids living in poor and racially unaccepting neighborhoods made it difficult for students to learn and retain information in schools properly. However, Talarico’s biggest concern here is the lack of funding that was provided for schools in the area. Even though these kids lived in poor neighborhoods, Talarico feels that by having a stable education available with better resources to keep growth in education, the kids who are actively living in these poor situations can access proper education. Attending an underfunded school can make for a difficult environment for students to learn in. Especially younger students such as middle schoolers. A lot of underfunded schools don’t have access to good tools to teach their students. Many of the materials they do possess are either scarce, so there’s not enough to share or they are outdated or not in great, stable condition. Tools like well-conditioned computers and school-issued laptops are really hard to possess in low-income schools, and when they are obtained there are only so many they can purchase with small budgets. They are a great tool for students to learn through online websites designed to help students further when they need extra practice outside of their teacher’s guidance. Yet many schools can’t afford to issue a tool like this, due to lack of income. Or calculators that can help students with extensive problems that would take a while to solve by hand. Although it is possible to solve problems by hand, on timed tests that allow calculators it’s encouraged to use this tool to refrain from taking too much time on an extensive problem. Students could use tools like these to feel more confident in the learning process which would keep them interested in their teacher’s lectures.
Underfunded schools have the issue of losing a lot of teachers due to lack of salary pay and the lack of help teachers get when trying to teach at least 20 or more students a day. Teachers struggle to be successful in their lessons when they can’t keep the attention of their students focused on their learning. Oftentimes students find it difficult to put effort into their education when they feel like they aren’t given the same opportunities as others. Or when they feel like they don’t have the proper tools that will help them be successful in their learning. So when these students feel like they can’t be successful they refrain from trying to learn and teachers often find it hard to teach students who don’t want to be taught. This often leads to teachers resigning, since they aren’t receiving economic compensation for the work they put in, and they find it hard to teach kids who don’t find it appealing to learn and work with a school board they can’t afford to pay them livable wages. Underfunded schools are just the root of a series of issues.
“They are what inspired me to run,” Talarico said. Talarico was able to experience the issues with underfunded schools firsthand, through his position as a teacher. Watching how so many issues unfold so quickly at once due to one factor Talarico was at a loss. He struggled with watching the school system fail yet another group of kids to due a lack of money funded for an education that could potentially change or set the rest of their lives. Talarico saw the lack of effort put into helping these kids succeed in learning and feel comfortable enough to learn. Talarico could no longer sit back and watch these issues unravel, one after another just for more and more students to feel as if they’ve been failed and teachers to feel like they’re the ones failing students all while they’re all being failed by one source. The lack of funding from school districts.
After watching students struggle to properly learn, teachers effectively give their students a stable education. Talario began his campaign to run for the Texas House of Representatives.
He successfully achieved this goal, and is now serving in the Public Education Committee, the Family Issues Committee, and the Juvenile Justice Committee, as well as the Calendars Committee. Talarico is the representative for District 50, in Round Rock Texas. Last year, Talarico proposed a bill that would raise teacher’s salaries all across Texas by $15,000. As of the present day, Talarico is fighting hard to get vouchers for underfunded schools in Texas.
Although he has parted ways with his job as a middle school teacher, Talarico still holds himself to the teacher role. Talarico has expressed that he still considers himself an educator as a Texas representative. Talarico uses his political status and following to gain attention on matters he believes are worthy of acknowledging. Talarico ran for office to help educate people on the big gaps in the education system, in hopes of gaining the attention of those viewing his candidacy so that they will be aware of these poor situations and possibly put forth their support.
Using social media platforms such as Instagram, and TikTok is one strategy that Talarico uses to educate viewers on topics such as issues within the education system and voucher scams. Talarico has a knack for teaching and making others aware of the things that tend to slip in between the cracks.
“I use my teaching skills in my communication with constituents,” Talarico said. He combines two components: he’s passionate about art and teaching to effectively spread knowledge to those around him. The arts of communication and teaching are muses to Talarico’s career. They allow him to reach out to his community and others and bring forth issues to their attention. He takes the information he holds and does what he does best, teaching passionately to those around him. He shares his passions through the skills that his passions scripted. Talarico has been noted to be a well-presented and spoken person. With the teaching skills of a goal-oriented educator, there’s very little doubt that his communication skills are quite impeccable.
Talarico uses his political status and following to gain attention on matters he believes are worthy of acknowledging. Talarico ran for office to help educate people on the big gaps in the education system, hoping to gain the attention of those viewing his candidacy so that they would be aware of these poor situations and possibly put forth their support.
Talarico uses his social media platforms as an outlet to educate his peers about issues he takes seriously. On December 16th, Talarico filmed a TikTok addressing the office’s dark money influence. He also uses his TikTok page to address the issue of mega-donors in Texas. Talarico expressed that he attends church often, and has read the bible, where he learned that faith in Christianity is wrongfully used when justifying voucher scams. He suggests that giving money vouchers to children and schools that already live stably and comfortably economically, is not in the rightful practices of Christianity as while vouchers are being given to children who do not need them, that money is being stripped away from children who do.
“God’s Kingdom is for the poor, and there is nothing Christian about taking money from poor kids and giving it to rich kids on the other side of town,” Talarico said in response to the voucher scams influenced by American politician Betsy DeVos.
This matter is just one topic that Talarico has attempted to shine a light on from its dark and hidden ways. The issues within the economic system set up for public schools just go on and on. Money is given to those who already have enough of it, while others who find money scarce must remain that way because a bright enough light has not been shed on its behalf, and if light is shed, then viewers overlook the intensity of it. This lack of money has caused mass amounts of stress to teachers, school boards and families who are involved with public education. The manic won’t end. Unless awareness is brought and matters are taken into the hands that are serious about making a change. Talarico has claimed that he wants to make a change.
It’s hoped that this fight for well-funded schools and proper education in Texas will not end just yet. Talarico will be running for re-election this year and hopes for another win not only for himself but for the schools, teachers and administrators, parents, and children of the state of Texas. Although running will consist of many phone calls, knocks on doors, and convincing, Talarico is ready to take on the challenge and continue to fight for education.
