Barbara Figuera Salazar is one of the two Editor-In-Chiefs of the Portfolio Yearbook at Patricia E. Paetow High School in Katy, Texas.

“As a student journalist, I have faced censorship. I know what it feels like to have simple rights such as deciding the theme and autonomy of the yearbook company be taken away or threatened. I understand what it is like for that power to be taken away from those creating the publications. Ultimately, I want to protect student journalists from censorship. I want them to have true First Amendment rights and not that of what an administration seems fit. Because of that reason, I feel it is absolutely necessary for Texas to pass a New Voices Law.”

What I Do

As the Legislative Officer of New Voices Texas, I will work to get in touch with members of the Legislature’s education committees and further explain the importance of freedom of the press in scholastic journalism. I am responsible for contacting bill sponsors and Legislators who have supported New Voices of Texas in the past to remind them of our objective and ways they can continue to support us in the future. I will also be responsible for finding new potential bill sponsors, as well as providing them with the necessary resources to move the legislation forward through the lawmaking process. I will measure success as an officer by finding a bill author/sponsor who is a State Representative and/or a State Senator, ideally, on the education committee. I will work to have efficient communication with them, in order to keep them informed at all times. By the end of the school year, I want to successfully get the New Voices Law passed in Texas. However, if that is not possible I would like to have one to three bill sponsors from the education committee to facilitate the passing of the bill for the next legislative session.