So what happens if Brian Russell, a State Republican Executive Committee member from Austin, replaces Cynthia Dunbar on the Texas State Board of Education after next year’s elections? Russell told the Texas Tribune today that he wants to keep education policy “moving in the direction we’ve been going in.” From the Tribune:
Russell, who previously endorsed Dunbar and seeks to be her replacement, has nothing but kind words for Dunbar: “I think she’s had a terrific record of achievement on the board. She’s been a problem solver and someone who’s exhibitied a lot of leadership.”
“My advantage is that I haven’t been a lightning rod,” he said.
But that’s a consequence of people not knowing yet just how politically extreme he is. Just take a look at the 2004 Texas Republican Party platform that he helped write (page 31 of this report). And check out the anti-science resolution he pushed through the State Republican Executive Committee last March.
And remember that Cynthia “Public Schools Are Tools of Perversion” Dunbar recruited him for the state board. That alone says volumes.
We need to bring moderates back to the State Board of Education and work to ensure that schoolchildren in Texas have access to the best, most fair, and balanced education in the nation. This will not happen with the continued attacks of people like Cynthia Dunbar.