Brandi Burkman
Non-Partisan | Texas
Candidate Profile
Conservative
BIOGRAPHY
Name
Brandi Burkman
Party
Non-Partisan
Election Year
2022
Election
General
Race
Leander ISD Board of Trustees, Place 2
Incumbent
No
Links
EDUCATION
University of Texas
WORK & MILITARY
Candidate did not provide
AFFILIATIONS
St. Margaret Mary Catholic Church, member, Leander High School Football Boster
treasurer, Leander Middle School Athletic Booster, president
Leander Middle School PTA, spirit gear coordinator, Destination Imagination
POLITICAL OFFICES HELD
Candidate did not provide
POLITICAL OFFICES SOUGHT
Candidate did not provide
Race
Previous Races
ENDORSEMENTS
CONSERVATIVE (1)
Travis County Republican Party
SELECTED FINANCIAL SOURCE DOCUMENTS
Campaign Finance Report - period of 8/1/2022-10/11/2022
- $250.00 contribution from Danielle Weston Campaign
- $428.45 contribution from Texas Parents United PAC
Please note: This information was received by iVoterGuide after panel evaluations occurred and is for additional educational purposes only.
OTHER INFORMATION
Election Voting History for Brandi Wynne Burkman from the Williamson County Elections Department during time of residence in district and/or at current address:
- 2022 Primary Election: Republican
- 2020 Primary Election: no record
- Voted in one Republican Primary election 2006 - 2018
- Voted in 11 General elections 2006 - 2021
**Voter history is not considered during panel evaluations.**
QUESTIONNAIRE
RIGHT TO LIFE
Abortion providers, including Planned Parenthood, should not be a resource for instruction or services in the school.
Strongly Agree
Human life begins at conception and deserves legal protection at every stage until natural death.
Strongly Agree
ECONOMY
Free enterprise and the right to private property are essential elements of a productive economic system.
Agree
School districts should be able to use taxpayer money for lobbying the state legislature.
Strongly Disagree
What is your position on government funding of public education from Pre-K through college?
A recent study of government subsidized pre-k program in Tennessee showed lower outcomes in math, reading, science, attendance and discipline records. For a few years when my kids were younger, I feel like I worked for insurance and to pay daycare. It was a daycare of my choosing though. I understand that having help funding child care is appealing but we need to be careful with government programs that aren't actually helping children.
RELIGIOUS LIBERTY
At school, students should be able to speak freely and civilly about matters of conscience and faith, including Christianity.
Strongly Agree
School districts should not discriminate against individuals, organizations or small businesses because of their belief that marriage is only a union of one man and one woman.
Strongly Agree
Students should not be allowed to pray in school.
Strongly Disagree
EDUCATION
What is the function of the local school board?
The school board is a "guardian of the public trust" and "responsible for the success or failure of local public education" according to the TASB Guide for School Board Candidates, and I could not agree with these statements more. The school board sets educational goals, establishes policy, evaluates educational programs, hires the superintendent, approves the budget and tax rate, and maintains a relationship with the community. As a function of local government, the school board needs to be accountable to the parents and the community.
Who should have the authority to set curriculum and determine resources used in those curricula?
The school board has the authority to adopt curriculum used in their local schools, however, in Leander ISD in particular, I do not understand why none of the curriculum used in our schools is SBOE or TEA approved. The State Board of Education has a very transparent process for the adoption of core curriculum for Texas children. I'm trying to understand why LISD duplicates this process.
When should parents be restricted from speaking in school board meetings?
As a parent that as of 9/29/21, is required to carry my clear bag to school board meetings and as of 6/23/22 had my time reduced to half, I do not believe parents should be restricted from speaking. Parents deserve to have their full three minutes to be heard.
Please list in order the following priorities in relation to the role of a K-12 public school (omitting any that do not apply): Mathematics, Information Technology, Science, Political Activism, Personal Finances, Gender Identity, Physical Fitness, American History, Critical Race Theory, Language Arts, Art & Music, Vocational Learning, Sexuality, Foreign Language, Social Emotional Learning
Mathematics, Science, Language Arts, American History, Physical Fitness, Art & Music, Personal Finance, Foreign Language, Vocational Training, Information Technology
American civics education should emphasize our nation's founding principles of liberty and equality.
Strongly Agree
Before students are taught courses such as Comprehensive Sex Ed (CSE) or Social Emotional Learning (SEL), they must opt-in with written parental permission.
Strongly Agree
The loss of local control in education is too high a price to pay in exchange for federal dollars.
Agree
I support the teaching of curricula (such as the 1619 Project, No Place for Hate, Second Step, etc.) that emphasizes slavery and racism as the foundation of American history.
Strongly Disagree
Parents are the ultimate authority in their child’s education and should be able to freely pursue whatever educational options they deem best for their child.
Strongly Agree
VALUES
Briefly describe your spiritual beliefs and values.
Our family attends St. Margaret Mary Catholic Church, where my children have received their sacraments. I feel that my faith has grown since I became aware of what was occurring in public education and my eyes opened to the anti-Christian material I was finding. I pulled my youngest daughter out of public school so that she can receive home Christian based classical curriculum. This year I pulled my sophomore daughter from public English Language Arts (ELA) and enrolled her in an online ELA when I found her teacher's derogatory social media posts about Catholics and prayer. As my faith continues to grow stronger daily, I also must protect my children's faith as it grows.
I support allowing public high school students to participate in athletic competition based on the gender with which they identify instead of biological sex.
Strongly Disagree
Who is responsible for teaching sexual education to children, and what is the appropriate age when it should be taught?
Ultimately, this is the responsibility of the parent. I am thankful for the passage of HB1525 to require parental consent since there seems to be much confusion on what is age appropriate in our classrooms.
If you support the teaching of Sex Ed, please answer the following question: Sexual education should include these topics (list all that apply and add your own, if needed) -- Physical and emotional health outcomes; contraceptive methods; consent; abstinence; sexual orientation and gender identity; human anatomy/the reproductive system; abortion methods and side effects; stages of pregnancy and fetal development; sex acts and pleasures of sex
Sexual education in our classrooms should be based on age appropriate science, human anatomy, development, the reproductive system, stages of pregnancy, fetal development, health outcomes, abstinence, contraceptive, and STD risks.
Judeo-Christian values established a framework of morality that is necessary for our system of limited government.
Strongly Agree
No healthcare diagnosis or treatment, whether mental, reproductive, or otherwise, should be given to a child without first receiving written consent from the parent.
Strongly Agree
No school official should be involved in the sexual transitioning of a student, including the use of alternative names and pronouns.
Strongly Agree
ELECTIONS AND VOTING
People should be able to vote without photo identification.
Strongly Disagree
ABOUT YOU
Which of the 11 objectives specified in the Texas Education Code is your highest priority?
Highest Priority is Objective 1- Parents will be full partners with educators in the education of their children.
Have you ever been convicted of a felony or been penalized in either civil or criminal court for sexual misconduct? If so, please explain.
No
A candidate's personal moral values should not be relevant when considering a candidacy for elective office.
Disagree
When you consider your views on a wide range of issues from economic and social matters to foreign policy and immigration, which of the following best describes you overall?
Conservative
Please provide publicly available information, including interviews and media reports, validating your answer to the previous question (other than your website).
https://cbsaustin.com/news/local/leander-police-investigating-parent-complaints-about-library-book https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JsYsndQ9w2E
Is there anything else you would like voters to know about you?
I am a parent that got involved when I saw the school board consider TASB recommended edits to the medical policy that removed so many opportunities for parental notification, that the policy would have allowed the district to remove a child from campus for a medical procedure and not notify the parent. Since then, I have educated myself on Texas Education Code and parental rights. I have continued monitoring the curriculum my children are accessing and seen the decline in academic rigor and how this correlates to STAAR scores, PSAT, and SAT. I am not a teacher, nor do I pretend to be an expert on teaching. In fact, I'm far from it as I'm learning how to teach my youngest daughter. Our teachers deserve better. Our children deserve better. Our educational system needs to focus on education.
2ND AMENDMENT
Teachers who are licensed to carry should be allowed to carry guns at school.
Agree
OTHER IMPORTANT ISSUES
Under what circumstances (if any) should schools be allowed to require vaccinations?
I have never been anti-vaccine until I witnessed an experimental vaccine forced and coerced on a population. At this time, I think we need to reevaluate required vaccines.
I support mask mandates.
Strongly Disagree
