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).
Patty Quintana-Nilsson, District 6, D-Houston
(Current District 6 Board Member: Terri Leo, R-Spring)
Patty Quintana-Nilsson, a teacher in the Spring Branch Independent School District, recently announced on her website her intention to seek the District 6 SBOE seat currently held by Terri Leo, R-Spring.
I’m Patty Quintana-Nilsson and I’m running for a seat on the Texas State Board of Education representing District 6.
As a dedicated classroom teacher with almost 15 years of teaching experience, I promise to bring an unbiased and non-political voice to the educational force that drives the vision and direction of education in our state.
I NEED YOUR SUPPORT to keep politics out of the classroom and place the well-being and educational success of OUR children back on the front lines of Texas’ priorities.
Texas cannot afford to keep the status quo and continue to cut billions of dollars from the lives of our children.
We cannot continue to cram students into already filled classrooms and pretend it doesn’t affect their education.
We cannot continue to look the other way when drugs and alcohol are present in our schools and are taking over the lives of many of our children.
We cannot continue to ignore the ever-growing dropout rates that put thousands of young people out into the streets of Texas, with no education, no jobs and no prospects.
“Kids First! Texas First!” is about OUR children, and their futures—regardless if you’re a Democrat or a Republican.
Please help support the campaign for educational excellence, and help us put “Kids First! Texas First!” once again!
With your help, we CAN bring back the excellence in education our children deserve and our country so desperately needs!
Thank You!
Patty Quintana-Nilsson
Sounds good. Good luck, Patty.
How do we get voters aware of the importance of this contest? Terri Leo is a key component of the right wing theocratic group. She needs to be removed.
Patty, you said “I NEED YOUR SUPPORT to keep politics out of the classroom…”. I am more concerned about keeping jesus out of the classroom. You failed to mention if you want our children to be taught things like the christion god created the heavens and the earth in seven days and nights and all humans are decendants of Eve and Adam. Tell us what you think about this.
I noticed the same thing that Stan points out. I will only vote for those who understand how important it is to keep religion out of the classroom. And I want it spelled out.
There is one sure fire way to flush out the radical right stealth candidates—-religious profiling.
1) Identify the church attended by the candidate.
2) Find out what their core beliefs are (usually on their website).
3) Look for the terms “inerrancy” (or some variant of it) and “Bible-believing.”
4) If you see either, you know the candidate is trying to “deceive” their way into being elected. “Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that entereth not by the door into the sheepfold, but climbeth up some other way, the same is a thief and a robber. (John 10:1)
Patty Quintana-Nilsson appears to be a good choice versus the current board member from district 6.
http://www.zoominfo.com/#!search/profile/person?personId=217985015&targetid=profile
http://pattyfortexas.com/PattyforTexas.com/Home.html
Current District 6 Board Member
Terri Leo:
Some elected officials even encourage schools to stigmatize gay and lesbian children. In 2004, Texas State Board of Education member Terri Leo, R-Spring, insisted that middle school health textbooks portray gay people as “more prone to self-destructive behaviors like depression, illegal drug use, and suicide.
http://tfn.org/2010/01/29/editorial-roundup-ignorance-and-the-sboe/#more-5468
The dismay of San Antonio-Express News editorial writers, for example, was crystal clear today as they explained the state board’s outrageously misinformed decision this month to remove from the social studies standards the author of a popular children’s book, Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See? Apparently, board member Terri Leo, R-Spring, had conducted a quick Internet search for the author’s name, Bill Martin, and mistakenly reported to board colleagues that he was the same Bill Martin who had written a book about Marxism.
http://tfn.org/2009/03/19/what-does-terri-leo-really-want-to-teach/
The first cat Leo let’s out of the bag is the ”end game” for creationists on the board: biology textbooks. What the next generation of textbooks teach about evolution is the subtext for the entire debate on curriculum standards. Leo and her allies lacked the votes in 2003 to force publishers to include phony “weaknesses” of evolution, but now the elusive majority is in sight
…in short, a potted plant running as a Democrat would seem an improvement over Leo.
I too worry about extreme religious dominionism further invading our schools.
For every absolute truth there are one or more other absolute truths of equal validity and opposite direction. Beware of all who hold on to an absolute truth, for they are duty-bound to destroy all others. Terri Leo adheres to an absolute truth, and has caused enormous damage to the children of Texas.
Please, Patty, let us know where you stand on science vs. creationism, separation of church and state, leaving religion to parents and churches OUTSIDE the school, and related topics.