Texas Democratic Senate candidate James Talarico is facing fresh scrutiny after a New York Times report revealed that state education records contradict a dramatic classroom story he has repeatedly told on the campaign trail.
The findings were highlighted Wednesday by Lone Star Liberty PAC, a group supporting Republican Senate candidate Ken Paxton, which also resurfaced an earlier report raising questions about another frequently repeated story from Talarico’s teaching career.
Talarico has repeatedly claimed that he once taught 45 students in a single classroom, forcing some children to sit on an air-conditioning unit because there were not enough desks.
“At one point, I had 45 students in one classroom,” Talarico said during a CNN town hall earlier this month. “There weren’t enough desks for all those kids, so I had students sitting on the air-conditioning unit in the wealthiest country in human history — in the 21st century, children sitting on the air-conditioning unit.”
But the Times found that Texas Education Agency records showed a maximum of just 30 students assigned to any class period taught by Talarico.
Most of his classes contained between 22 and 27 students, according to the records.
The newspaper also interviewed former students and colleagues, who recalled crowded classrooms but did not remember students being forced to sit on air-conditioning units.
Despite the discrepancy, Talarico has continued to feature the 45-student account on his campaign website, using it to explain his entry into politics and his opposition to Republican education policies.
His campaign did not dispute the accuracy of the state records cited by the Times.
Instead, spokesman JT Ennis claimed that Talarico initially had 45 students before working with school administrators to reduce the class size.
“After having 45 students placed in his classroom, James worked with school administrators to redistribute students across classes and create the learning environment that his students deserved,” Ennis said.
Ennis declined the newspaper’s request for an interview with Talarico.
The NYT findings come as another account from Talarico’s brief teaching career has also drawn scrutiny.
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Lone Star Liberty PAC pointed to a January investigation by The Texas Tribune examining the Democrat’s story about a troubled student named Justin, whom Talarico has repeatedly invoked while explaining his decision to enter public office.
According to Talarico’s account, Justin was an 11-year-old student who had previously threatened a teacher with a knife. Talarico has described developing a relationship with the boy before a series of disciplinary and personal difficulties led to his removal from the school.
Talarico has blamed education funding cuts and the loss of school support services for the circumstances surrounding the student’s departure.
“We failed Justin,” Talarico said during a campaign appearance in Houston. “In that moment, I promised myself that if I ever got a little bit of power, I would do everything I possibly could to stop something like that from happening ever again.”
But The Texas Tribune reported that school officials who worked at the campus during Talarico’s tenure could not confirm specific details of his account.
The officials remembered Justin as a troubled student who had developed a relationship with Talarico and confirmed that layoffs occurred during the period in question. However, they could not independently substantiate the full sequence of events described by the candidate.
Talarico spent just two years teaching at Rhodes Middle School in San Antonio before pursuing a career in politics.
Both accounts have become prominent parts of his political biography as he seeks to defeat Paxton in the November 3 Senate election.
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[ H/T Trending Politics ]
