This morning, the SBOE began their session with a prayer. I'll let the Texas Freedom Network take it from here -- the video pasted below is theirs, from their post, "Christian Land Governed by Christian Principles":
Even before the Texas State Board of Education took up its expected debate today over what students will learn about separation about church and state in their social studies classrooms, board member Cynthia Dunbar, R-Richmond, made her position clear. She offered the board’s opening prayer this morning and removed any doubt about what she and other far-right board members want students to learn: America’s laws and government should be based on the Christian Bible.
The Texas Freedom Network caught video of Dunbar's prayer:
The May 4-12 statewide poll by the national firm of Greenberg Quinlan Rosner Research for the TFN Education Fund shows that 68 percent of likely Texas voters agree that church-state separation is a key principle of the Constitution. Agreement extends across party lines, with 59 percent of Republicans, 76 percent of Democrats and 74 percent of political independents believing it is a key principle. (The question wording and poll results are available here.)
In addition, 72 percent of Texas voters – and 78 percent of parents – say that teachers and academic scholars should be responsible for writing curriculum standards and textbook requirements for Texas public schools. Only 19 percent prefer that elected members of a State Board of Education do so.
The Texas Freedom Network has been knocking it out of the park with their ongoing coverage and action on the State Board of Education. What began with a hugely successful rally and has continued with excellent liveblogging and reporting, the Texas Freedom Network has merged sophisticated communication with grassroots activisism that should make any Texan proud.
The State Board of Education (SBOE) does not want to face the public, especially not the SBOE Chairwoman, Gail Lowe. Here's what happened:
The Mexican American Legislative Caucus, the Legislative Study Group, the House Black Caucus, and Senate Hispanic Caucus invited numerous SBOE and education officials to a hearing
SBOE Chairwoman Gail Lowe declined, saying she couldn't afford to make the trip
MALC made transportation arrangements, housing arrangements, and were going to pay for Lowe's gas to attend the short trip from Lampasas to Austin -- a commute that is hardly beyond the realm of possibility.
Lowe still refused to attend.
From the press release I received from MALC:
Initially citing the fact that her position as SBOE Chair was unpaid, Lowe declined to make the short trip from Lampasas to Austin. Even after receiving notification that MALC had made arrangements for a hotel, mileage reimbursement and per diem for meals; Lowe declined again— this time claiming a work commitment.
"To be turned down by Chairwoman Lowe is surprising and disappointing. I urge her to realize that over fifty members of the legislature are requesting her attendance at this very important hearing. We all have hectic lives and busy schedules, but she needs to make the time " said MALC Chairman Trey Martinez Fischer.
The hearing is scheduled for Wednesday, April 28 from 9am-3pm at the Capitol Extension E2.012
Cynthia Dunbar, another Republican on the SBOE, is under fire from the Texas Freedom Network for additionally controversial remarks she made over the weekend. From a post on the TFN Insider blog titled, "Dunbar Takes New Trip on Extremism Train":
Speaking last week on a far-right talk show, The American View, (read more about the show here) Dunbar — a Richmond Republican representing a state board district that stretches from west of Houston to Austin — attacked public education and even the religious faith of people who don’t agree with her. She also repeated her infamous attack on President Obama as a terrorist sympathizer. And as the state board prepares to take a final vote next month on social studies curriculum standards for public schools, Dunbar suggested that supporters of separation of church and state don’t understand the Constitution and that the drafters of the First Amendment had no concerns “whatsoever” for the nonreligious.
State Rep. Mike Villarreal is one of numerous legislators and groups urging Texans to take action and speak up about the State Board of Education. Sign a petition he has here.
The good news: Apparently, super right wing radical Cynthia Dunbar will not run for reelection in 2010 to the State Board of Education's 10th District. This is great news for Texas, as well as for those in Austin and elsewhere who live in the district. She only disrupts and distracts from potential progress in education.
The bad news: Ms. Dunbar plans to pick her successor.
APPEARS DUNBAR WILL NOT SEEK RE-ELECTION TO SBOE
SREC member Brian Russell says she recruited him to run for her open seat.
Republican Cynthia Dunbar, a lightning rod for controversy on the State Board of Education for her ultra-conservative views, appears to have told supporters she will not run for a second term on the board and likely will be replaced on the ballot by Austin intellectual property attorney Brian Russell, who currently serves on the State Republican Executive Committee.
Another clue she may not be running: Her website, cynthiadunbar.com, brings you to a pretty looking website that mentions the State Board of Education relatively little. Completely ignored is cynthiadunbar.com/index.htm, which directs you to a campaign site as of this posting.
He may not be quite as virally appalling as Ms. Dunbar or her colleague Don McLeroy, but Brian Russell is also a Christian Conservative that would put politics before education.
As Austin's member on the State Republican Executive Committee, he signed a letter about the 2009 Speakers race. The letter implied that the Anybody-but-Craddick Republicans were "working against their own Party."
He is the Austin contact and "Volunteer" with the Texas Eagle Forum. If you don't remember, this is the far-right conservative organization from where Cathie Adams hailed.
Hopefully, the Republican primary voters will pass on Mr. Russell. The party has a reasonable looking candidate in Rebecca Osborne. Unfortunately, she no longer has Cynthia Dunbar's absolutely repugnant record to fight against. And Republican primaries tend to favor the more conservative.
That also means that the Democratic candidate also won't be able to fight against such repulsiveness. With Lorenzo Sadun stepping aside, now could be a prime opportunity to help Judy Jennings. She's currently the only Democratic candidate for the SBOE 10 seat, which is the only seat Democrats can reasonably hope to gain in 2010 . Right now, it looks like we'll need our candidate to be strong. We need a candidate that will win over Texans in the fight for truly better schools.
Update: We still do not have direct confirmation that Dunbar will step aside, but the Statesman has it that, in an email, she said a statement would be released later. They also hear from other SBOE member David Bradley that she will not be returning.
Update by Matt: This statement just came in from Texas Freedom Network President Kathy Miller:
"If this report is accurate, then it appears that Cynthia Dunbar realized her extremist track record made her a damaged brand in next year's election. But the only difference between her and Russell is she wrote a book savaging public education and he hasn't done that yet. Nobody should be fooled here. He holds the same anti-science and extremist views that Dunbar does, which is why she recruited him to run for her seat."
In her 2008 book, One Nation Under God, Dunbar called public education a "subtle tool of perversion," "tyrannical" and unconstitutional. During the 2008 president election, Dunbar attacked then-candidate Barack Obama as a Marxist and a terrorist sympathizer who wanted another attack on America so that he could declare martial law and throw out the Constitution. Dunbar has also been a leader of efforts by the State Board of Education's far-right faction to politicize our children's social studies classrooms and to promote creationist arguments against evolution in science classrooms.
In March of this year Russell successfully persuaded the State Republican Executive Committee to pass a resolution demanding that all Republican state board members obey the Texas GOP platform by supporting creationist arguments against evolution in new public school science curriculum standards. He also has served as treasurer of Legacy PAC, a Christian-right political action committee. In 2004 he served on a committee that drafted the Texas Republican Party platform, which called separation of church and state a "myth," demanded that public schools teach "intelligent design"/creationism in science classrooms and opposed including medically accurate information on contraception and disease prevention in sex education classes.
In 2008, no Democrats ran for State Board of Education in district 10. This year, we were poised to watch two qualified candidates go head to head in the primary. Today, Lorenzo Sadun, the write in candidate against Mike McCaul in Congressional District 10 and long time Travis County Democrat, announced he was not running for the office and throwing his support immediately behind Dr. Judy Jennings.
The e-mail he sent out was forwarded to me in full:
Dear friends,
I have decided not to file as a candidate for State Board of Education. The only office that I will be seeking this year is Democratic Precinct Chair in Travis County Precinct 214.
In part, this decision is for personal reasons, recognizing the strain that the campaign is placing on my work and on my family. A bigger factor, however, is my primary opponent, Dr. Judy Jennings. As I have come to know Judy better and better on the campaign trail, I have come to respect and admire her commitment to quality public education, her understanding of educational issues, and her discipline and determination. I have also watched her grow as a candidate. There is a learning curve to being a candidate, and Judy picks things up very quickly. Much as I would like to serve on the SBOE, I cannot allow my own ambition to stand in the way of Judy's bringing necessary change to a dysfunctional board. Going forward, she has my full support.
I owe a debt of gratitude to all of you for your support and encouragement over the last six months. I also owe a debt of money to those of you who contributed financially to the campaign, since we have a lot of unspent funds! In a few weeks, after all the bills are paid, I will partially return contributions in proportion to how much was given. Please consider redirecting this refund to Judy Jenning's campaign.
Democratically yours,
Lorenzo Sadun
This is a classy decision by Sadun. Nobody can argue Sadun has the interests of the party at heart and his early decision will allow Democrats to get behind Jennings who is running against Republican Cynthia Dunbar. For more information about how bad Dunbar is, visit Jennings page about SBOE here.
According to the Houston Chronicle's "Texas Politics" blog, a majority of the State Board of Education, including two of its Democratic members, gathered in Spicewood two weeks ago to honor rejected SBOE Chair Don McLeroy.
Among the highlights:
Cynthia Dunbar, R-Richmond, asked Rene Nunez, D-El Paso, to take a photograph of McLeroy and "Don's Darlings," which included herself, [Terri] Leo [R-Spring] and Barbara Cargill, R-The Woodlands.
What I wouldn't give for a copy of that picture! Oh wait ... here it is ...
If social conservative evangelical "experts" advising the State Board of Education on the next decades worth of social study curriculum for the Lone Star State have their way than students will learn that historical figures such as Associate Justice Thurgood Marshall, labor leader Cesar Chavez, and women's rights advocate Anne Hutchison are "not strong enough examples," or "lack the stature" necessary for being taught in Texas public schools. From the Dallas Morning News:
Civil rights leaders César Chávez and Thurgood Marshall - whose names appear on schools, libraries, streets and parks across the U.S. - are given too much attention in Texas social studies classes, conservatives advising the state on curriculum standards say.
In other words, if these panelists appointed by extreme religious fanatics on the State Board of Education have there way we will have a public education system in Texas that indoctrinates a decades worth of single-minded, racist, sexist, and bigoted youth most likely to associate themselves with the Texas Republican Party. I guess that is one way to ensure you revive a narrow minded, one-dimensional, majority Anglo, anti-minority Grand Old Anglo Party.
The social studies requirements will remain in place for the next decade, dictating what is taught in government, history and other social studies classes in all elementary and secondary schools. The standards also will be used to write textbooks and develop state tests for students.
I just set-up a fundraising page on Act Blue for Lorenzo Sadun's Campaign for the State Board of Education-10th District. As I'm sure you remember, the Fundamentalists on the SBOE have been trying to infect science classes with Creationist dogma, especially the 10th District incumbent, Cynthia Dunbar! I can think of no cause that's more important long-term than protecting our children from religion masquerading as science!
Show Lorenzo that you're grateful to him for stepping up for all our children! Go to the web site below and help me launch this important campaign to stop one of the most outrageous Right-wing attacks on the First Amendment!
http://www.actblue.com/page/tr... You don't have to be rich to make a difference! Whatever you can afford will help us get this campaign off the ground, and generate some attention. Donate a few bucks today, and if at all possible, go ahead and make your contribution automatically repeat each month. Right now, a little bit will go a long way to start a revolution right here in the 10th District! Of course, BIG contributions will help BIG TIME!
Thanks for all you do!
Ron Coldiron,
Treasurer,
Lorenzo Sadun for SBOE-10
State Rep. Donna Howard (D-Austin) has filed a bill that would make future State Board of Education elections non-partisan. If HB 420 passes, parties would not nominate candidates for SBOE and the term "independent candidate" would be extended to those running for SBOE.
SBOE member Cynthia Dunbar has been in the news recently for saying that Obama was working with terrorists. Her attack on Obama (for which she refuses to apologize) has been used by some as evidence of the board's extremism.
Howard, who served on the Eanes ISD school board and ran for the SBOE before she became a House member, had this to say.
“The idea that Texans - if provided with information on the issues - would elect someone who has publicly declared the state’s education system ‘unconstitutional’ and ‘tyrannical’ is absurd,” Howard said. “We value our children’s education too highly.”
That someone Howard refers to is, of course, Cynthia Dunbar.
Do you think State Board of Education elections should be non-partisan?
