State and local candidates share views

    Texas Republicans on the campaign trail visited with Jackson County voters last week. 13th Court of Appeals candidate Doug Norman, Senate-hopeful Gary Gates, State Representative Phil Stephenson, and State Representative and Senate candidate Lois Kolkhorst joined candidates for our own local offices for a “Meet and Greet,” where they discussed the important issues faced by the state of Texas and Jackson County.
     Topics on the table were education, budget, and preserving personal rights and freedoms. Education is especially important to Kolkhorst who says she has two children in the public school system and believes that the key to educating Texas children is to understand that they do not all learn in the same way and to trust that their teachers know what they need to learn.
    “Education is the bridge to prosperity,” she says, “We really have to focus on the fact that in today’s world, children are learning very differently. That’s because they are growing up in the digital age. The challenges are to make sure teachers have the proper tools. I am not a fan of what we call ‘cookie cutter education.’ I am not a fan of Common Core. I want to give teachers flexibil