Education First, a non-partisan, informal organization of voters from State Board of Education District 10, which includes Fort Bend, Brazoria, Austin, Williamson, Bastrop and North Travis counties (among a number of others) has launched a website and blog.
The website EducationFirstSBOE10.org is geared to advancing the groups goals of raising voter awareness and interest in the State Board of Education, in particular the SBOE district 10 election of 2010.
It seems that in 2010 however, Mrs. Dunbar, should she choose to run again, will surely face primary and general election opposition. Mrs. Dunbar has not yet publicly announced her intentions. Her website can be found here. Several other potential candidates have already lined up for the SBOE 10 race in both the Republican and Democratic primaries. All of them have years of experience and a dedication for improving the education system in Texas.
Have a look for yourself and weight in with your comments. Click on each potential candidate's name to view their homepage or contact them directly.
Rumor is that his pick will be Cynthia Dunbar, an SBOE representing Austin who's views can't be described as anything but hard right- not exactly an improvement from McLeroy. It also confirms the notion that the SBOE Place 10 race will be one of the most important down ballot races of 2010 in Texas.
The race for the State Board of Education Place 10, an area which covers the northern half of Travis County (north of the Colorado), all of Williamson, Bastrop and 11 other rural Counties as it stretches down to the Fort Bend area, is one of the most important and will be one of the most interesting down-ballot contests of 2010.
The SBOE has become one of the favorite political targets of ultra-conservatives in the past few election cycles and has been a battleground for some of the favorite issues of the social conservative movement- sex education and evolution. After being held by a moderate Republican for many years, the Place 10 seat was captured in 2006 by an ultra-conservative candidate funded by voucher proponent James Leininger of San Antonio. While the current SBOE 10 representative faced no Democratic opponent, Leininger still saw fit to donate tens of thousands of dollars to her campaign.
The representative has gone on to make a mockery of her position on the State Board and public education in general in Texas. She has even gone so far as to call public education tyrannical and unconstitutional. Not surprisingly, she has drawn criticism from even the mainstream media and concerned citizens alike. It seems that she will surely draw a primary and general election opponent in 2010. It will be important to get conservatives and moderates who value high-quality public education and who don't wish to make Texas public schools a laughing stock and for progressive and Democratic voters engaged in this contest at an early stage. The more likely she is to draw true solid competition, the more likely her orthodox views will be brought into the open. Whatever happens, it seems that her election in 2010 will not be the cakewalk it was four years ago and the higher the profile that we can give this race the better.
Several upcoming events where those concerned can get involved and learn more are:
Education First general meetup
Saturday, May 30, 2009 2:00 p.m.
Hangtown Grill
5800 Burnet Rd., Austin
Education First is a nonpartisan, informal network of residents of Texas State Board of Education District 10 who are working to promote educational excellence by reducing the influence of politics and ideology on the board.
Public Forum: "Why You Should Care about the State Board of Education?"
June 6, 2009 11:45 a.m.
Yarborough Public Library
2200 Hancock Dr., Austin
Education First general meetup
Saturday, June 27, 2009 2:00 p.m.
Hangtown Grill
5800 Burnet Rd., Austin
(This is cool. I first met Donna Howard in 2002 when I was still in high school in Fredericksburg and she was running for the State Board of Education (yes, the Austin district goes out there). - promoted by Karl-Thomas Musselman)
House Bill 420, entered by Representative Donna Howard, would remove declared partisan races in the State Board of Education race. As you know this is a way down ballot race which seldom gets attention.
One of the SBOE members representing Austin has recently gotten plenty of attention with her wacky rants. She is also now a poster child for why the partisan label from the SBOE should be removed. Otherwise we end up with people like this in office. Mrs. Dunbar was unchallenged by a Democratic opponent in the general election, so her place on the SBOE was virtually sealed when she beat a better Republican opponent in the primary. The straight party ticket voters, many probably not aware of her extreme views, swept her into office.
It is hoped that if HB 420 is passed it will allow candidates for this office to have more substantive debate than appealing to the primary voters only. If you are interested in this bill and in the SBOE races in general please see this listserv group site. And contact your House Rep and urge her to support this bill today.
