Because of redistricting, all 15 seats on the Texas State Board of Education will be up for grabs in the November 2012 elections. The results of those elections will determine whether the religious right’s corrosive influence over public education will weaken or grow as the board considers what the next generation of public school students in Texas will learn about sex education, social studies, science and other subjects. We plan to publish on TFN Insider candidate announcements for a seat on the SBOE. We will publish announcements in no particular order, and their publication does not constitute any sort of endorsement by TFN. We will redact requests for contributions or mentions of fundraising events from the announcements, but we will provide links to the candidates’ websites (if available).
Judy Jennings, District 10, D-Austin
(Current District 10 Board Member: Marsha Farney, R-Georgetown)
Judy Jennings is running for the open District 10 seat on the SBOE. Current District 10 board member Marsha Farney will vacate her seat to run for the Texas House. Jennings’ website is votejudy2012.com.
Extremists at the Wheel
A ultra-conservative Republicans on our Texas State Board of Education have rewritten the curriculum according to their own political agenda. Based on the advice of political extremists, they have muddled up the teaching of history, science, sex education … even math! But there is hope. Democrat Judy Jennings, a curriculum specialist, is running to bring rational decision making back to the board. She’ll take politics out of the classroom and make sure that teachers and experts are making sound curriculum decisions so our children are well prepared for the 21st Century economy.About Judy Jennings
Judy Jennings is a wife, mother and grandmother—and an expert in education policy. Her daughter is a public-school teacher in Williamson County, and her son taught English in Korea. Judy had not finished college when she met and married her husband, Hal. But as her children grew, Judy returned to school and earned her bachelor’s degree. She then earned her Ph.D. while working at the Texas Education Agency (TEA).From her years as a teaching assistant at the University of Texas at Austin through her work on accountability at the Texas Education Agency to her current position as Director of Assessment at Resources for Learning, Judy has spent years working on the very issues for which the State Board of Education is responsible.
She has the skills, training and experience to be a productive member of the board overseeing public education in Texas.
