Dot Snyder said she has an extensive background in education and said that she is ready to take that experience to Washington to represent the schools in Congressional District 17.
Three Republican candidates, Arlene Wohlgemuth, Dave McIntyre and Snyder, are competing in the primaries for U.S. Congress in District 17.
The winner will face Chet Edwards, D-Texas, in the general election in November.
“I am from McLennan County and have deep roots there,” Snyder said.
“The person who beats Edwards must do well in McLennan County, and I am the only person who can do that.”
After Snyder received her undergraduate degree and Ph.D. in biostatistics from the University of Texas, she focused her career on promoting education. She served on the Waco Independent School Board for five years, some of that time as president.
Even with Snyder’s experience in education, one of the concerns expressed by students at Texas A&M has been Synder’s inexperience with A&M.
“If Dot Snyder does not have experience with Texas A&M,” said Matt Mosier, a freshman meteorology major, “then how is she going to be able to represent it in Congress?”
Sophomore political science major Philip Shackelford said Snyder’s politics may not belong on the national arena but rather, may be better suited for a position as a school board president.
Snyder has reiterated how important A&M is to this district and said that she loved what she has seen of campus.
“A&M is the largest employer in this district, which makes it very, very important,” Snyder said. “I hate to see tuition going up because college is a ticket to success.”
To provide the opportunity for underprivileged youth to attend college, Snyder established the Mac Grant program, which sends deserving students to a two-year technical school after high school. The scholarship can be extended to allow the students to get an undergraduate degree after they complete technical school.
The Mac Grant program has helped students from the Waco area attend A&M, Snyder said.
During Snyder’s time on the Waco ISD school board, she championed an initiative to end social promotion in public schools. Social promotion is defined as allowing a student to proceed to the next grade based on behavior and not on knowledge of the curriculum assigned to that grade level.
“My kids get on grade level and often stay on grade level,” Snyder said.
This initiative forces students to have the ability to perform basic skills at each level. President George W. Bush has now integrated the social promotion policy into his “No Child Left Behind” Act, Snyder said.
“Education and hard work is the answer to everything, so I want to help kids go for it. If you work hard, you can get the American dream,” Snyder said.