Corsicana ISD Assistant Principal Candra Rogers speaks for the first time since suffering an injury.

good morning good morning um I'd like to thank you all for being here thank you to corana ISD for um allowing me to use this space um please understand that what I'm say today uh are my words this is not coming from corsak ISD um first thank you all from the depths of my heart for all of your prayers they have given me and my family strength during these very difficult and trying times thank you for all the meals the cards the ways you have um assisted us financially and everything else you've done and I'm so so very very grateful I will be reading a short statement but I will not be taking any questions on Thursday August 15th during lunch I heard our behavioral teacher call on the radio to administrators for assistance when I arrived the teacher and students were outside the classroom one student was holding his head having been having been assaulted by the student remaining in the classroom I entered where the student was still irate and found the room rans sacked with overturned Furniture I knew I had to be as calm as possible and I spoke lowly and slowly so as not to enrage him any further he picked up a chair and acted as if he would throw it he finally did throw it at me but I caught it midair he picked up another chair to throw at me when another assistant principal entered the room I used the first chair to block the second he picked up a third and threw it at the other assistant principal and I use that initial chair to block the one that he threw at her after blocking the chair thrown at the other assistant principal he threw a wooden hanger at me but I couldn't stop it fast enough The Hanger hit me in my right eye and knocked it out of the socket I grabbed my face while blood was pouring out of my head and stumbled out of the classroom door the nurse and 911 were called I asked for my cell phone to call my husband to come get me not realizing the extent of the damage when paramedics arrived they determined I would need to be airlifted to Parkland Medical Center in Dallas I underwent surgery as soon as soon as possible and doctors were able to reinsert my eye however they determined I had been blinded and currently believe that my damage um is permanent I will have to have an additional surgery to repair my eyelid because doctors are believing um oh I'm so sorry um I underwent surgery as soon as possible and doctors were able to reinsert my eye however they determined that I've been blinded and they currently believe that my damage is permanent I will have to have an additional surgery to repair my eyelid and because um doctors are believing my blindness to be perect to be permanent removing my eye may have to be an option I'm still believing God for a miracle for restoration of my sight my teaching career began here in coracana this tragedy affect it affected not just my husband my children my grandchild my family and my friends but it has also negatively affected my school my district and my community because of the numerous districts in which my husband and I have worked and the Thousand of students I've taught the impact of my injury it's far-reaching chapter 37 of our Texas Education Code which was originally created in 1995 to help protect our marginalized students with regard to how students are disciplined may need to be re-evaluated so that no PA professional no teacher or principal simply put no educator should ever be put in this situation I fully understand education laws and the need for students to be educated with their peers chapter 37 may need to incorporate changes to to address the mental social and emotional well-being of these students as Educators we care about about our students and their safety but we we must also care about the safety of our educational staff our safety is important too we should never have to fear being in a classroom with an aggressive student everyone's protection is Paramount overly aggressive students need services to meet their needs but I do not believe the safety of other students and the educational staff should suffer last Governor Greg Abbott holds some accountability in the safety of our students and our staff for years our students H our schools have suffered unfunded mandates which have included pay raises our basic allotment which funds our day-to-day expenses have not increased since 2019 even though we have had Rising costs on absolutely everything including new unfunded mandates this is 2024 I'd like to quote a friend who gave me permission to use their words quote if our students don't have what they need to be successful in Texas this is not simply problematic I hold that it is immoral Texas has the ninth largest economy in the world not the country the world Texas has over a $32 billion budget surplus yet we spend the eighth least in terms of allotment per student in the US regardless of what you believe this says about our priorities as a state this is a choice and choices have consequences article 7 section one of the Texas Constitution states a general diffusion of knowledge being essential to the preservation of the Liberties and rights of the people it shall be the duty of the legislature of the state to establish and make suitable provision for the support and maintenance of an efficient system of public free schools I would argue that for Texas public schools in 2024 to be funded at 2019 levels is unsuitable provision to say the least to that end I believe the state legislature Bears some degree of culpability when our schools our Public Schools struggle due to improper funding article 7 section 3A of the Texas Constitution states 1/4 of the revenue derived from the state occupation taxes shall be set apart annually for the benefit of the public free schools without delving too deeply into the proverbial weeds allow me to Simply remind you of an earlier point the state of Texas has a 32 billion do Surplus I'm not a mathematician but to have that abysmal level of spending in a booming State economy with a$ 32 billion Surplus simply does not add up simply stated Texas is vastly underfunded according to a study conducted by the Kinder Institute 73% of our Texas public school districts are underfunded when schools are underfunded all stakehold stakeholders suffer it is important to to point out that the decision to continue funding Texas public schools at 2019 levels in 2024 is a choice and the collateral damage of govern Governor uh abits choices include but are not limited to academic struggles student discipline struggles teacher retention challenges stifled program advancements loss of student enrichment programs lessening of needed student supports erosion of parent and external stakeholder trust decreased student engagement end quote to date Governor Abbott has failed to release These funds because his political priority is school choice and it seems he prefers to perpetuate a system of The Haves and Have Nots people fail to realize that public schools are required to accept any student regardless of abilities private schools are not and do not public schools are required to have certified teachers private schools are not public schools are required to undergo State mandated mandated testing private schools are not these are just a few of the inequities by further decreasing funds from from public schools which are already grossly underfunded as those those of us in education already know to give to those who can already afford to send their children to private schools is simply wrong it's wrong to have so many mandates that make educating our public school children more more difficult it's wrong to take money from grossly underfunded schools I've been in education for 30 years and I am a proud of product of public schools I believe in public school education but what happened to me should never happened to another educator Mr Abbott release the funds because you are also culpable for what happened to me thank you for your time for for e e for