Texas Republicans Expand Majority on State School Board

Things are great in red Texas.

Governor Greg Abbott and Sen. Ted Cruz cruised to re-election. Republicans still dominate the state legislature. And they gained another seat on the state school board.

Parents rights is a winning issue in Texas. Gov. Abbott signed a bill into law last year to ban “critical race theory” (CRT) from government school classrooms. CRT began as a Marxist theory that groups of people are inherently inferior or superior to others based on race, ethnicity, sex or religion, and that the United States and its institutions are irredeemably racist. According to this theory, race and racism influence culture, the justice system, and politics.

Leftist teachers in Texas can’t indoctrinate students with such divisive ideas.

Texas lawmakers also barred men and boys from competing against women and girls on sports teams.

Voters agree that parents’ rights are a top priority in education. The Texas Tribune reported that the GOP occupies 10 out of 15 seats on the Texas Board of Education, flipping one of the districts from blue to red. All 15 seats were up for election. An excerpt:

Usually, voters pay little attention to races for the body that sets the state’s public school curriculum. But this year, how Texas schools operate has been a particularly hot topic. The pandemic’s impacts on school closings and mask mandates — as well as a new law restricting how students should learn about America’s history of racism — have made the state board races much more visible.

Earlier this year, two Republican incumbents on the state board lost their primaries to candidates promising to get critical race theory out of classrooms even though no Texas school teaches such a course. Jay Johnson lost his primary in District 15, in the Panhandle, and Sue Melton-Malone lost hers in District 14, covering parts of North Texas. Aaron Kinsey replaces Johnson, and Republican Evelyn Brooks replaces Melton-Malone.

Governor Glenn Youngkin of Virginia swept into office on the parental rights issue, flipping the state from blue to red. He delivered on his promises by issuing a series of executive orders that reaffirmed parents rights.

The governor banned CRT in government schools and lifted the mask mandate. One order stated that the “parents of any child enrolled in a elementary or secondary school or a school based early childcare and educational program may elect for their children not to be subject to any mask mandate in effect at the child’s school or educational program.” Gov. Youngkin also reversed the state’s “transgender” policies.

Winning: anti-critical race theory candidates dominated the elections for the Texas Board of Education. They now control 10 of 15 seats—and will abolish critical race theory from the curriculum in all Texas public schools. https://t.co/EEbxvUtAHI pic.twitter.com/YpsPBX4CxN

— Christopher F. Rufo ⚔️ (@realchrisrufo) November 10, 2022

Photo credit: Wally Gobetz (Creative Commons) – Some rights reserved

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