SECTION 1. A general diffusion of knowledge being essential to the preservation of the liberties and rights of the people, it shall be the duty of the Legislature of the State to establish and make suitable provision for the support and maintenance of an efficient system of public free schools.

The  New York Times Magazine’s February 14 issue includes a long article by Russell Shorto, “How Christian Were the Founders?“, on the Texas State Board of Education. As its title suggests, the article’s main focus is the Board’s seven right-wing members’ conviction that the United States was founded as a Christian nation, and their campaign to inject their view into Texas textbooks.

The first of a series of debates featuring local and statewide candidates is scheduled for Thursday, February 11 on the UT campus. There will be two debates among State Board of Education candidates, one for Republicans and one for Democrats, but all are running for the District 5 seat; no District 10 candidates are appearing.

For directions and the debate schedule, follow this link.

There was one of the largest crowds ever at the Women Vote meeting last night to hear Kathy Miller and David Hillis speak about the State Board of Education. There must have been close to 75 people there. I distributed our flyers on tables around the room. At the end of the meeting, I went back around to collect flyers that weren’t taken home BUT there were none left on the tables. Yeh!

There have been letters to the editor printed in the Bastrop and Elgin newspapers (both printed and online). I plan to submit a letter to the editor to the Austin Statesman tomorrow.

Keep up the good work!

The candidate forum that was to be hosted by the Round Rock PTA Council on February 11 has been canceled. At this point we don’t know the reason for the cancellation; when (if) we do, this post will be revised.

The group’s two-page flyer has been revised for the upcoming primaries. In addition to an introduction to the State Board’s structure and responsibilities, it contains brief biographies of the Republican and Democratic candidates for District 10.

Today’s Austin American-Statesman has a front-page article by Kate Alexander on the Republican candidates for the State Board of Education’s District 10.

Cynthia Dunbar’s decision to leave the State Board of Education at the end of her first term has sparked a spirited three-way Republican primary to succeed her.

Dunbar has been a powerhouse of the board’s conservative bloc, and all three District 10 candidates — educators Rebecca Osborne and Marsha Farney and patent lawyer Brian Russell — insist that they, too, are good conservatives.

But they seem to lack Dunbar’s penchant for partisan provocation that has at times made her a subject of controversy, such as her statement that public schools are a “subtly deceptive tool of perversion.”

The 800-word article describes the candidates’ backgrounds and positions, illustrating them with numerous quotes. Among the interesting similarities and distinctions between the candidates:

• Osborne and Farney are professional educators, Russell is not.
• Farney has a child in public school, Russell’s children are home-schooled.
• Unlike Dunbar, whose home is in Fort Bend (near Houston), all three of these candidates hail from the Austin area.

The Washington Monthly’s January issue has a cover story on the Texas SBOE, “Revisionaries: How a group of Texas conservatives is rewriting your kids’ textbooks.” The article focuses on Board member—and former chairman—Don McLeroy, but it mentions SBOE10’s incumbent Board member in passing:

Among the new cadre were some fiery ideologues; in her self-published book, Cynthia Dunbar of Richmond rails against public education, which she dubs “tyrannical” and a “tool of perversion,” and says sending kids to public school is like “throwing them into the enemy’s flames.” (More recently, she has accused Barack Obama of being a terrorist sympathizer and suggested he wants America to be attacked so he can declare martial law.)

That an insider Washington publication gives our Board of Education such an extensive treatment is a testament to its importance far beyond Texas.

In all, five candidates filed to run for SBOE 10 seat in 2010. Three, Marsha Farney, Rebecca Osborne and Brian Russell will be running in the Republican Primary. Judy Jennings will be the Democratic candidate and Jessica Dreesen will be the Libertarian candidate.

Education First looks forward to a strong debate about ideas and tactics to improve public education. We’ll be bringing you the latest throughout the primary and general elections.

A number of candidates have now filed as candidates for State Board of Education Place 10. The Austin Chronicle is reporting that Rebecca Osborne, Brian Russell and Marsha Farney will be competing in the Republican Primary in March. Judy Jennings is the current sole filer currently on the Democratic side. A Libertarian candidate has filed in SBOE 5, which covers part of Travis County, but no Libertarian candidate has yet to emerge in SBOE 10.
As the last day for filing, January 4, approaches Education First will bring you the latest news.

The Texas Tribune’s 2010 series has a couple of new articles on the Republican candidates for SBOE District 10. Abby Rapoport’s ironically titled “Survival of the Fittest,” which preceded Cynthia Dunbar’s official withdrawal, describes her “likely” replacement, Brian Russell, as having “nothing but kind words for Dunbar.”

The other article, “Done-bar,” by Reeve Hamilton, includes the complete text of Dunbar’s announcement. As was widely expected, she endorses Russell, and she describes herself as having fulfilled her pledge to her constituents to “get in, get the job done and get out.”