SBOE 1:1 - In The Beginning, There Was Oil

The board that put Bible verses in math class needs three fewer Republicans.

Earlier this year, the Texas State Board of Education (SBOE) approved a new required reading list that includes Bible stories and passages for all public school students from first grade through high school. The SBOE has a history of placing inappropriate lessons in our school books for our children and politicizing their education, thanks to the J6ers and far-right extremists elected to this board. The forced religious indoctrination may be the most egregious act this board has yet taken.

While we can only assume they will keep the Bible verses for our children tame and mild, I’d like to tell you a story that comes from the same book the verses they’ll be placing in the math workbooks come from.

🚨Trigger warning. Levite’s concubine, Judges 19. A man is traveling with his concubine, and while staying at a random man’s house one night, a mob surrounds the house and demands that the man come out so they can rape him. Instead, the host offers up the women. The concubine is thrown out and gang-raped all night. She dies on the doorstep. The man takes her home, cuts her body up into twelve pieces, and sends them to the tribes of Israel as a call to war.

And while it’s safe to assume that particular story won’t make it into kindergartners’ schoolbooks, it comes from the same book of the “versus” that will. And there are plenty of other stories in the Bible that don’t have a moral takeaway and are violent and obscene. It’s perfectly logical to question whether those obscene stories will make it into high school curricula.

This isn’t a new problem.

Back in 2015, a Pearland mom named Roni Dean-Burren caught her ninth-grader’s McGraw-Hill textbook describing the Atlantic slave trade as bringing “millions of workers” to the South. The publisher eventually apologized and fixed the caption, but only in the digital edition. Kids reading the print copy got the sanitized version for another decade, because that’s how the reprint cycle works. The board approved that textbook.

Fast forward to 2023. The board is reviewing eighth-grade science textbooks that, for the first time, must mention climate change. Members rejected seven of twelve, several because the publishers dared to maintain an ESG policy. Julie Pickren, the Pearland J6er Republican who represents District 7, killed Discovery Education’s textbook over that exact complaint. Fort Worth’s Patricia Hardy tanked one from Green Ninja because it dared suggest people warn their families about extreme weather. And Frisco’s Evelyn Brooks, mid-discussion about the origins of the universe, asked the room, “What about creation?”

Which brings us to this June. The board gave final approval to a reading list that requires Bible stories, the Parable of the Prodigal Son, the Eight Beatitudes, and more, in classrooms serving five million Texas kids of every faith and none. In the same sitting, they gutted sixth-grade World Cultures and beefed up the unit on anti-communism, scaling back world history and diversity content across the board.

In 2024, this board approved its own homegrown curriculum, Bluebonnet Learning, and told Texas it was ready for classrooms. It wasn’t. Texas taxpayers are now on the hook for up to $8.4 million to fix somewhere between nineteen hundred and forty-two hundred errors, copyright violations, busted answer keys, and formatting so broken teachers couldn’t follow their own slide decks.

The only way Republicans can continue winning is by having an uneducated base, and they know this. Which is why the SBOE has been working double-time to make sure Texas children don’t receive a world-class education.

We can change this. We can flip the SBOE. THIS YEAR!

There are 15 SBOE seats. Nine are on the ballot this year. Three are already blue and expected to stay blue. Those are:

• SBOE-04: Dr. Coretta Mallet-Fontenot

• SBOE-05: Allison Bush

• SBOE-13: Dr. Tiffany Clark

If we didn’t flip ANY seats at all, the makeup of the SBOE would be Republican 10/Democratic 5. So, we need to flip AT LEAST three seats to take control.

These are the Democrats running for Republican held seats (and we’re about to get to a breakdown):

• SBOE-02: Thomas Ray Garcia

• SBOE-06: Michelle Palmer

• SBOE-07: Tiffany Perkinz

• SBOE-08: Dr. Dana Van De Walker

• SBOE-09: Ericka Ledferd

• SBOE-14: Amy Taylor

We have six opportunities to flip three seats. This year, with a wave election expected, can we do it? Who has the best chance? And what do these districts look like? Let’s get into it.

SBOE-02: Thomas Ray Garcia vs. Victoria Hinojosa.

LJ Francis once held this seat until his wife outed him as 🏳️‍🌈 during their divorce proceedings. The Republicans then shunned him. Actually, I think they came after him with pitchforks. Why LJ Francis wanted to be a gay, Black Republican is a mystery only he knows the answer to. Needless to say, he lost his primary.

Victoria Hinojosa won the primary. She is the wife of State Senator Adam Hinojosa. Which, yuck, we should all hate. It’s like the Paxtons, when the wife doesn’t have her own personality, so she follows her husband into politics. No, she isn’t an educator. According to BallotPedia, she is a customer service rep for Wells Fargo. But she’s a staunch Conservative, which makes her perfect for preparing the next generation of The Handmaid’s Tale.

By contrast, Thomas Ray Garcia is an educator, author, and entrepreneur with 13 years of experience in K-12 and higher education. He taught in the classroom and spearheaded programs for high school students and parents. Garcia is a community college professor, a former high school teacher, and a former director of a college readiness program that has impacted thousands of students.

This is a Hispanic-majority seat, which includes the Coastal Bend region and the Rio Grande Valley. This district has typically seen low voter turnout, especially in midterm elections. However, if the “blue bounce” we saw in the primary in the RGV is any indicator, this may be one of the closest SBOE seats we have to flipping.

Garcia received 107,999 votes in the Democratic primary. Hinojosa received only 47,537 votes in the Republican primary. Fewer than 81,000 Republicans voted in the primary in this district.

SBOE-06: Michelle Palmer vs. Tiffany Nelson.

This seat used to belong to Will Hickman (R). He retired (or something). Good riddance, because he was as dumb as he was ideologically pure. The Republican who won in his place this year was Tiffany Nelson, who describes herself as a “woman of faith, family, and service.” According to her website, her experience with public education is having six kids who went to public school. And since she’s from Conroe and deeply religious, she’s now ready to rewrite your kids’ school books.

Michelle Palmer has been a teacher since 2009 and has taught Mathematics, ELA, and Social Studies. One of her campaign promises is to ensure Texas’ core curriculum is based on scientific and historical facts. She’s currently working on a Master’s in American History and Government to help students better understand how this country was built and how our government functions.

You know, while we can’t really say that primary turnout indicates general election turnout, both Democratic and Republican primary races in this district saw almost even turnout. If Democrats are looking at a wave year, that may also be good for this district.

SBOE-06 is split between Montgomery and Harris County. It’s 46.4% Anglo, 53.6% non-Anglo, with Hispanic at 29.5% and Black at 13.0%. This district is going to be the heaviest lift of the six, but if Palmer focuses on Harris County and the non-Anglo vote, as well as her challenger’s lack of qualifications, she may have a shot.

SB07: Tiffany Perkinz vs. Julie Pickren.

Julie Pickren attended the January 6, 2021, insurrection in Washington, DC. She tried to help thousands of crazed right-wing lunatics steal democracy for a dictator who poops in his pants. She never apologized. Instead, they elected her to the SBOE. Which, really, more than anything, should tell you about the state of the Republican Party.

Since then, she attempted to implement the highly propagandized PragerU into Texas schools, an act that failed but further shows how this woman has no business at all in public education.

This district includes the Golden Triangle, Jefferson, Orange, Hardin, Liberty, Jasper, Newton, Tyler, plus Brazoria, Chambers, most of Fort Bend, and Galveston. Anglo 45.2%, non-Anglo 54.8%, with Black at 19.4% and Hispanic at 24.6%, the highest Black population share of the six districts, concentrated in Jefferson County (Beaumont/Port Arthur), a historically Democratic industrial county surrounded by rural, heavily Republican counties.

This area has been plagued by low voter turnout in recent years. However, I’ve been watching some of the activity down there this year and am hoping this is the year they turn it all around.

The Democratic primary here was the most contested of the cycle, five candidates, going to a runoff that Perkinz won by less than one point. This seat had real primary energy and a genuine coalition fight, which can cut either way. However, Perkinz has been going the extra mile to make herself visible with Democratic clubs and on social media and has a good leg-up going into the general election.

If Democrats in Jefferson County can up their turnout from recent years, this seat is a real plausible pick-up.

SBOE-08: Dr. Dana Van De Walker vs. Audrey Young.

Young is the incumbent, first elected in 2020, and has Houston Chronicle’s past endorsement on record. Which is not to say for much, considering how far to the right the Houston Chronicle has seemingly been leaning lately. But she was a Republican sitting on the SBOE when the Republicans attacked climate change and put Bible verses in our schools, so that’s multiple strikes against her.

Dr. Dana Van De Walker is an educator with nearly 20 years of service. She taught elementary and middle school English as a Second Language (ESL) before earning her Doctorate of Education (Ed.D.) in Higher Education Leadership. Currently, she oversees a large student program at Lone Star College.

This district is Northeast Houston, extending into the Piney Woods, including Walker, Polk, Trinity, San Jacinto, Grimes, Waller, plus parts of Fort Bend, Harris, and Montgomery. Anglo 37.5%, non-Anglo 62.5%, with Hispanic at 35.0% and Black at 16.7%.

Republicans’ only defense here is that they might say Young is a “more reasonable GOPer,” especially in comparison to the other Repubes on the SBOE. But again, she was there when the Bible verses and climate denial were implemented.

SBOE-09: Ericka Ledferd vs. Kason Huddleston.

This district has the biggest geographical footprint of the six. Deep East Texas (Angelina, Cherokee, Gregg, Nacogdoches, Smith, etc.) plus, critically, Kaufman and Rockwall counties and a slice of Dallas County, fast-growing DFW exurbs. Anglo 51.7%, non-Anglo 48.3%, Black 17.4%, Hispanic 24.5%.

Incumbent Keven Ellis is retiring. Huddleston is the one to watch here. He’s A pastor and former Texas GOP chaplain, one of four Christian conservative candidates this cycle endorsed by Abbott, running explicitly on “combating woke education.” 🤮 It really is astounding how many Republicans either sit, sat, or are running for the SBOE who have no business being within ten miles of public education.

Ledferd, an education advocate with SMU’s TRIO program, ran unopposed and campaigned on protecting neighborhood school funding amid school choice expansion and shaping financial literacy and early reading standards.

And considering that more than half of Texas schoolchildren can’t read, that’s your choice. A chaplain who wants to make sure kids don’t learn about civil rights or an educator who wants to make sure kids can read.

This district is a genuine wild card because it stitches together deep-red rural counties with rapidly diversifying DFW exurbs. Flipping this district will absolutely take driving up the numbers in Dallas, Rockwall, and Kaufman.

SBOE-14: Amy Taylor vs. Mindy Bumgarner.

Mindy Bumgarner is the wife of State House Representative Ben Bumgarner. And just like Angela Paxton and Victoria Hinojosa, her entire personality hinges on being a Republican politician’s wife. (Well, not Angela Paxton anymore. Pour one out for her identity crisis.) But like Victoria Hinojosa and most of the other Republican candidates on this list, she doesn’t have any real educational experience. However, according to her website, she’s written plans and supports funneling taxpayer money to the wealthy for school vouchers.

Amy Taylor has taught in Texas public school classrooms for 16 years, most of them teaching gifted learners and English language learners in a Title I school. She’s promising to end the whitewashing of our school books at the SBOE and to get religion out of teacher instruction.

This district covers North/Central Texas, including Denton (93%), Ellis, Johnson (48%), McLennan (Waco), Hill, Navarro, Wise, plus a small slice of Dallas. Anglo 55.4%, non-Anglo 44.6%, Hispanic 22.8%, Black 11.6%.

Turnout here was 65.8% in 2024, up from 49.3% in 2022, the highest 2024 turnout rate of the six districts. Denton County carries this seat. It’s grown fast and trended less red than Collin or Tarrant’s exurban ring in recent cycles. There is absolutely a suburban flip opportunity here.

Fifteen seats. Nine on the ballot. Three already ours. Six in play.

We need three of the six to win control of a board that decides what 5.5 million Texas kids learn, what books they read, and whether the word “slavery” gets to mean slavery.

That’s three wins out of six genuine opportunities, in a year when Republicans are running a customer service rep, a pastor who wants to “combat woke education,” and a woman whose entire platform is “I had six kids, and I go to church” against actual career educators with actual doctorates in actual education.

The GOP didn’t send their best. They sent their spouses.

And look at what’s riding on it. A board that put a rape and dismemberment story’s home book in a first grader’s backpack while promising the Bible verses will stay “tame.” A board that killed science textbooks because the publisher had an ESG policy. A board that cost you, the taxpayer, up to $8.4 million to fix a curriculum they wrote themselves and couldn’t be bothered to proofread. A board that has made “what about creation?” a legitimate question during a discussion of eighth-grade science standards.

This isn’t a board of educators anymore. It’s a board of ideologues who happen to have jurisdiction over your kid’s reading list, and they got there because nobody was watching the SBOE races. Everybody watches the governor’s race. Everybody watches Congress. Nobody watches the fifteen people deciding whether Texas kids learn that George Washington owned people or that they were “workers.”

We’re watching now. Six seats. Three wins. That’s the whole ballgame, and for once, Texas Democrats don’t need a miracle. We need Jefferson County to show up. We need Rockwall and Kaufman to keep trending the way they’ve been trending. We need the RGV’s primary energy to survive to November. That’s it.

Vote like your kid’s textbook depends on it, because it does.

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