AUSTIN – Today, Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick announced the appointment of Sen. Paul Bettencourt, of Houston, Sen. Larry Taylor, of Friendswood, Sen. Royce West, of Dallas, and Annette Tielle, Ed.D., of Austin, to the Texas Commission on Virtual Education. Upon making the appointments, Lt. Gov. Patrick issued the following statement:

“High-quality virtual education is a critical tool in offering Texas families options for their students, and I am confident that my appointees will come up with recommendations to improve virtual education for all Texas students.”

Paul Bettencourt, of Houston, currently serves as the State Senator for District 7. He is the Chairman of the Senate Committee on Local Government and is the former Harris County Tax Assessor-Collector.

Larry Taylor, of Friendswood, currently serves as the State Senator for District 11. He is the Chairman of the Senate Committee on Education and he also served 5 terms in the Texas House of Representatives.

Royce West, of Dallas, is the State Senator for District 23. He serves as Vice-Chair of the Senate Committee on Higher Education and is the managing partner in the law firm of West & Associates, L.L.P.

Annette Tielle, Ed.D., of Austin, is the Superintendent of Del Valle ISD. She previously served as the Assistant Superintendent of Curriculum at both Comal ISD and Pflugerville ISD.

The Texas Commission on Virtual Education was created by House Bill 3643 during the 87th Legislature to develop and make recommendations regarding the delivery of virtual education in the public school system and state funding for virtual education under the Foundation School Program.