State Board Of Education Primary Could Determine If Social Conservatives Control Textbook Selection

There are a number of very important Texas primary races being eclipsed on both sides of the ballot by the furor over the Democratic Presidential Primary. One is a GOP primary for State Board of Education in which a right-wing anti-evolutionist is running against a less-right-wing Republican for the District 11 seat on the State Board of Education.

The Dallas Morning News has some excellent coverage of the race:

Social conservatives are moving to secure their first majority on the politically divided State Board of Education, backing an avowed creation-science supporter against a veteran Republican board member in a closely watched Fort Worth-area race.
Board member Pat Hardy, R-Fort Worth, is being challenged in the GOP primary by Cleburne urologist Barney Maddox, a critic of the theory of evolution who calls it a “myth” on a creation science Web site and who once testified that Texas schoolchildren are “brainwashed” into believing in evolution.

Ms. Hardy, a former high school social studies teacher and now a curriculum adviser in the Weatherford school district, is known for being a swing vote on the 15-member board and for leading an effort to require that all high school students take four years of science. She is in her sixth year on the state board.

There is no Democratic opponent in the general election, so if Dr. Maddox won the primary, it would hand social and religious conservatives a majority on the board and potentially trigger an ideological shift affecting textbook selection and the curriculum taught in public schools.
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“There is already a seven-member bloc from the far right on the board, and their ability to grow that margin by one could hasten the trend we are already seeing of political ideology taking precedence over needs of our children and their future,” said Kathy Miller of the Texas Freedom Network.

This race, and Dr. Maddox, are just the kind of primary election races and candidates that will give a progressive a nauseating case of heartburn.

Control of the SBOE is pretty important. Why? Because the SBOE shapes a heck of a lot of education policy in Texas–and has a massive amount of sway over textbooks.
And, with an 8-7 majority in doubt for non-ultra-social conservatives, it isn’t good news that Maddox has more money:

Campaign finance reports filed this week indicated that Mr. Maddox has a decided financial edge, with expenditures of $61,203 in the last month and $70,000 in loans to his campaign – including $55,000 of his own money. Ms. Hardy’s report, on the other hand, indicated expenditures of just $4,017 and $5,850 in campaign contributions.

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