Victoria Valencia: Denham didn’t keep his promise, and my students may suffer

I’m a kindergarten teacher in Manteca, and my responsibility to my students and their families goes beyond the classroom. Their health is just as important as their education, and the health care bill that Congressman Denham helped pass will hurt my students and their families. Many of our students have insurance because of the Affordable Care Act. They have pre-existing conditions like asthma, diabetes and birth defects and may lose coverage under the AHCA. Our children deserve better and there’s no excuse for it. I was hopeful he would keep the promises he made to maintain health coverage for our community. He had a responsibility to follow through on his promises. Congressman Denham lied. While he was telling people he would vote against this bill, he was behind closed doors working on a way to take benefits away. There are a lot of people in the community unhappy with his vote and the stance he’s taking on issues that are very important to families here, and we vote.

This story was originally published May 11, 2017 at 1:05 PM with the headline "Victoria Valencia: Denham didn’t keep his promise, and my students may suffer."