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| 2/23/2010 8:00:00 AM | Email this article • Print this article |
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| Osborne |
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Teacher takes on 'Goliaths'
Osborne juggles political campaign with teaching
By PATRICK BAILEY
Special to the Leader
For McNeil High School teacher Rebecca Osborne, this past year has been dedicated to juggling her teaching job with a political campaign.
"It's been a real learning experience," Osborne said. "I've learned a lot about politics, how to put a political campaign together from scratch and what it means to belong to a political party."
Osborne is running for one of the 15 seats on the State Board of Education, which establishes textbook and curriculum standards for public schools in Texas.
"Last year I worked more than 2,300 hours on the campaign," Osborne said. "A full-time job is typically set at 2,080. So, in addition to teaching full time I worked an additional full-time job plus some."
She has also raised $5,400 in contributions, has collected 730 signatures to get her name on the ballot and traveled more than 7,500 miles meeting U.S. representatives and senators, superintendents, school board members, mayors, judges, commissioners and lobbyists from across Texas while gaining insight into the political sphere.
"It's really intellectually appealing to me," Osborne said. "I never anticipated the intellectual appeal of the campaign. I never thought of all the people I would meet."
District 10 includes Williamson County, part of Travis County (including Austin) and 12 other counties.
Cynthia Dunbar announced she will not seek reelection. Candidates Brian Russell and Marsha Farney will face Osborne in the Republican Primary March 2. The winner faces Democratic candidate Judy Jennings in November.
"This may be the story of David against two Goliaths; one candidate who has clearly worked the longest and hardest, one candidate who is financially wealthy and one candidate who has the most political connections," Osborne said. "The race will come down to my ability to overcome their strengths."
Osborne has made it among her top priorities to expand the 4X4 graduation plan to cover more courses. The 4X4 graduation plan requires students to take four years of math, science, English and social studies. Osborne also wants to help more students find a bridge into college or a career and place more control and responsibility to the local levels.
"Regardless of the outcome of the race, this is the beginning of my political activism, not the end," Osborne said.
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