(Austin) -- Calling on all champions for public schools to join them in working to ensure his re-election, a leading statewide teacher group has endorsed State Representative Hubert Vo in his bid for the Texas House, saying he is “a leader who puts first the interests of public school children.”

“Hubert Vo has seen first-hand the power of great public schools and dedicated public school teachers to make a dramatic difference in his life,” said Linda Bridges, president of Texas AFT, the statewide group representing more than 58,000 public school teachers and other education workers. “I think that’s why he works so hard to protect public education in Texas so that every other child can have the same chance to succeed.”

Texas AFT was created in 1974 as the state affiliate of the influential American Federation of Teachers. The group has been a leader for school teacher certification, safer classrooms, and better public schools.

Bridges said Texas AFT is proud to endorse Vo in the House District 149 race and to call on all Texas teachers to get behind his positive campaign for higher standards, more accountability, and giving teacher more pay and more say in how they run their classrooms.

“Hubert Vo is a leader who puts first the interests of public school children,” Bridges said. “He has taken on voucher proponents and other anti-school politicians in support of the needs of teachers and other school employees.”

Vo’s opponent has said he supports “aspects of vouchers” and was the only member of the Houston Independent School District board to vote against a bond issue that would have injected million of dollars into House District 149 schools. He was also the only member of the board to vote against funding for breakfasts for low-income students and opposed an increase in teachers’ salaries.

Vo has earned praise for his role in passing legislation to require defibrillators on public school campuses and his proposed initiative to protect student identities and other private data from online security breaches.

The Alief Independent School District’s has honored Vo with its prestigious “You Make a Difference” award for speaking out on important issues affecting public education.

Vo has proposed an innovative plan to link state lawmakers’ pensions to increases in public school teacher salaries and benefits by changing the formula for setting legislative retirement benefits, saying the current system has failed to bring Texas public school teacher salaries even up to the national average, causing high turnover rates, recruitment challenges, and an historic teacher shortage.

“The cost of underpaying classroom teachers threatens to undermine our other education reforms,” Vo said. “While China and India continue to invest in the next generation of our global competitors, Texas should be paying educators like the professionals they are.”

Vo first won election to his current post in 2004 when he defeated a powerful veteran lawmaker. He has since been lauded for "a refreshing willingness to work across party lines for the benefit of his constituents." (Houston Chronicle, October 8, 2006).

A successful small businessman, Vo earned his degree in mechanical engineering from the University of Houston by day while working as a machinist at Hughes Tool Company in the evenings. He has been a leader in the Alief community for three decades, serving on the board of the Alief YMCA and as a council member of the Alief Super Neighborhood.

Vo and his wife Kathy have three children and are active in a wide variety of community projects.