OUR TURN: Education board must add up for electorate
Other than the governor’s race and a couple of local elections, the March 2 party primaries this year just haven’t seemed to generate a lot of interest.
Yet there is one race that is somewhat under the radar that everyone who cares about Texas schools should be interested in. That’s the race for the State Board of Education, particularly District 5, which includes Burnet and Llano counties.
The race for District 5 is virtually ignored, but the outcome of the board of education race affects all of Texas.
Before you vote, please study the issues and the candidates carefully. We are not going to tell you who to vote for, but we do suggest you approach the ballot box fully informed about the issues, the personalities and what’s at stake.
Why is the election for the 15-member State Board of Education so important?
Because the board decides how our children are educated, what standards students are measured by and what textbooks they read and learn from. What’s more, the board is the arbiter of the content of those textbooks, which mold and shape young minds.
The board also determines the Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills for each subject and grade level, kindergarten through 12th. The TEKS also guides what teachers are supposed to teach and what students are supposed to learn.
These guidelines are so definitive that many other states adopt them as well, meaning Texas — or the board, really — sets the pace for education parameters inside and outside the Lone Star State.
In Texas, the board’s decisions guide the standards for student testing, textbooks and teacher training and teacher accountability.
The board determines how history is portrayed and what subjects are taught by the content they approve for all Texas schoolbooks. There’s a lot of money involved — the state’s $22 billion education fund is one of the biggest in the Union. As the New York Times recently noted, some of that money goes to buy 48 million textbooks annually, which makes publishers nationwide more than ready to tailor their books to fit Texas education standards.
The sad truth is that the state board lately has become a bully pulpit for narrow minds to push narrow interests, many of those based solely on interpretations of personal faith or agenda-driven politics.
The State Board of Education should not be guided by partisanship. Our children’s educational welfare is far too important to allow a few demagogues to brainwash students across Texas.
Because the District 5 race so often garners little interest, residents are often faced with poor representation thanks to low voter turnout and a lack of knowledge about the board’s purpose. Unwise decisions by some board members have lowered standards of learning on Texas campuses. Rather than work for the children of Texas, some board members have disregarded or downplayed the advice of education professionals to push their own personal and often ill-informed viewpoints.
This does not serve students well, nor is it fair to parents, educators, the business community and anyone else who wants our Texas schools to be known for educational excellence.
Take the time to research the issues, learn about the candidates, discuss what is at stake and go vote Tuesday. Help Texas maintain a standard of educational excellence. Keep politics and personal agendas out of the State Board of Education.
The River Cities Daily Tribune editorial board includes Dan Alvey, Amber Alvey Weems, Thomas Edwards, Chris Porter and Daniel Clifton.