Texas State Board of Education member Cynthia Dunbar has now released a statement explaining that she will not seek re-election to her seat next year. She used her announcement to endorse Brian Russell, an Austin attorney and State Republican Executive Committee member, as her replacement. Russell has already announced his intention to seek the seat and […]
Textbook Censorship
The Texas State Board of Education decides what every student in Texas public schools will learn from kindergarten through high school. The board does so by adopting curriculum standards and textbooks for public schools in the state.
For decades, far-right politicians on the State Board of Education and their extremist allies have taken advantage of this flawed system to dismiss the advice of experts and scholars. They have instead worked to inject their personal views into textbooks on everything from evolution and climate change to the history of slavery, civil rights, and separation of church and state.
Resources
- Report Reveals Serious Flaws in Social Studies Textbooks
- The State Board of Education: Dragging Texas Schools into the Culture Wars (2008 report)
- Evolution, Creationism & Public Schools: Surveying Texas Scientists (2008 report)
- Culture Wars and the Classroom (2010 report)
- Senate Bill 6: Changes in the Textbook Adoption Process (2011 report)
- Texas Science Curriculum Standards: Challenges (2012 report)
- Science Textbook Review (2013 report)
- Social Studies Textbook Review (2014 report)
American-Statesman Confirms: Dunbar Is Out
According to reporter Kate Alexander at the Austin American-Statesman, David Bradley is confirming that fellow Texas State Board of Education member Cynthia Dunbar will not seek re-election to her seat next year. Bradley told the Statesman that Dunbar recently began teaching at the Liberty University School of Law in Virginia and commutes from her home […]
Dunbar May Be Bowing Out of SBOE Race
Stunning news: Cynthia Dunbar may not be running for re-election to her seat on the Texas State Board of Education. Quorum Report, an online political news site (subscription required) based in Austin, is reporting that State Republican Executive Committee member Brian Russell, an Austin attorney, is seeking Dunbar’s seat. According to QR, Russell says Dunbar recruited […]
Jennings Responds to Sadun Withdrawal
In an e-mail to supporters today, education consultant Judy Jennings of Austin responded to the announcement from University of Texas mathematics professor Lorenzo Sadun that he is withdrawing from the race for Cynthia Dunbar’s seat on the Texas State Board of Education. Sadun’s withdrawal leaves Jennings as the only announced Democratic candidate for the seat. […]
Sadun Drops Challenge for Dunbar SBOE Seat
Lorenzo Sadun, a University of Texas mathematics professor, has announced that he is dropping his bid to replace State Board of Education member Cynthia Dunbar, R-Richmond, in the 2010 elections. That leaves only one announced Democratic candidate for the seat, education consultant Judy Jennings of Austin. Dunbar still faces Williamson County teacher Rebecca Osborne in the […]