SBOE Candidate: Tom Maynard

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).

Tom Maynard, District 10, R-Florence
(Current District 10 Board Member: Marsha Farney, R-Georgetown)

Tom Maynard, executive director of the Texas Future Farmers of America and a former Florence school board member, announced via press release (h/t Quorum Report) on Dec. 14 that he intends to seek the District 12 seat. Current District 12 board member Marsha Farney will not run for reelection and is instead running for the Texas House of Representatives. Maynard’s website is maynardfortexas.com.

Tom Maynard announced today that he has filed in the Republican Primary for the State Board of Education District 10, which is being vacated by Marsha Farney.

“I will bring my experience as a parent, taxpayer, teacher, school board trustee and non-­‐profit executive to the State Board of Education,” said Maynard. “I will fight for local control of education, respect the role of parents and families, demand fiscal accountability and efficiency, and defend our conservative values.”

Maynard says his passion for service in education comes from his experiences growing up at Cal Farley’s Boys Ranch near Amarillo. The product of a broken home, Maynard was sent to the Cal Farley’s where he spent seven years and graduated high school.

“Education taught me to take responsibility for my own success, to work hard and be resilient. It was a vehicle to change my circumstances as it is for millions of young Texans,” he continued. “Education is a critical part of their success and our state’s future economic competitiveness.”

Maynard currently serves as executive director of the Texas FFA Association, a career and technical student leadership organization that supports the state’s agriculture, food and natural resources instructional program. Maynard is the longest serving executive in the organization’s 84-­‐year history and has earned national recognition for membership growth, leveraging business relationships and creating innovation technology solutions.

Maynard served as a classroom teacher for 13 years during which time his students won national recognition, and Maynard earned a reputation for implementing creative, cutting edge teaching methods. He was twice-­‐elected to the Florence I.S.D. School Board where he was known for straight talk about instructional and budget issues.

Maynard and his wife Freda have four children and 3 grandchildren. They reside in Williamson County where Freda operates a real estate appraisal firm. The Maynards also operate a small agricultural operation.