Brian Babin is a life-long resident of East Texas. He was born in Port Arthur, Texas and grew up in Beaumont. He graduated with a bachelor of science from Lamar University and completed dental school at the University of Texas Dental Branch in Houston, Texas.
Dr. Babin served as an airborne artilleryman in the Texas Army National Guard and held various jobs to put himself through school, including merchant seaman, janitor, musician, disc jockey and U.S. Post Office letter carrier. Following his graduation from dental school, Dr. Babin was commissioned as a Captain in the United States Air Force and stationed overseas at Ramstein, Germany.
As someone who served on my local school board, I understand that parents, teachers, and local school boards are in the best position to implement school policies. Since the creation of the federal Department of Education in Washington under then-President Jimmy Carter in 1980, things have gotten worse – not better. The Obama administration made clear it was only interested in consolidating this decision-making authority in Washington.
To combat this failed approach, I worked tirelessly with Trump administration officials to decentralize our education system and return the power back to where it belongs.
Simply put, I trust local school boards, parents, and teachers more than bureaucrats in Washington, DC.
They are more accountable to the voters and to parents, and they are more responsive and attentive to the needs of students. Anyone who is a parent understands that each child is different and learns differently. The one-size-fits-all approaches increasingly dictated from Washington over the past several decades have failed our children, and it is long past due that we return more power and authority to states and localities.