Five races for the Republican-dominated State Board of Education to watch this year
District 1
Gustavo Reveles and Michael “Travis” Stevens are running in District 1, which encompasses El Paso County and part of Bexar County. El Paso Democrat Melissa Ortega, who decided not to seek reelection, currently holds the seat. Reveles, a Democrat who currently serves as communications director for the Canutillo school district outside of El Paso, said he is running to ensure that Texas’ border community continues to have a presence at the state level. While acknowledging that he has not worked as a teacher or an educator, Reveles said the board needs people who respect educators as leaders and experts in the field. Top of mind for Reveles is helping ensure that students of all backgrounds feel represented in curricula. He also would like to see a more rigorous approval process of charter schools, which are publicly funded but privately managed.
District 10
Tom Maynard, the incumbent, is running against Raquel Sáenz Ortiz in District 10, which includes Bell County and part of Williamson County. Maynard is a Florence Republican who has served on the board for 11 years. He is currently the chair of the board’s Committee on School Finance and helps oversee the $56 billion state endowment known as the Permanent School Fund. With more than 30 years in education, Maynard spent more than a dozen of them as an agricultural science teacher. He also worked as executive director of the Texas FFA Association. In an emailed response to questions, Maynard listed working to improve the quality of instructional materials, creating and implementing a library book review process and completing revisions to the social studies and mathematics standards as some of his top priorities.
District 11
Rayna Glasser, Brandon Hall and Hunter Crow are running in District 11, which includes Parker County and part of Tarrant County. The seat is currently held by longtime Fort Worth Republican incumbent Patricia “Pat” Hardy, who lost in the March primary. Glasser, a Democrat with nearly 20 years of teaching experience in Texas, is an instructional coach in the Crowley school district. She said her and other candidates’ experiences as current educators would help the board make decisions in the best interests of kids and teachers. Glasser would like the board to revisit graduation requirements, specifically the mandate that students pass the STAAR to receive their diploma. Regarding school curricula, she believes schools need to teach facts — “the good, the bad and the ugly” — and not exclude pertinent information based on one’s personal preferences. Glasser also noted that classrooms are not the appropriate forum to teach so-called Christian values.
District 12
Pam Little, the incumbent, is defending her seat against George King in District 12, which includes Collin County. Little, a Fairview Republican who has served on the board since 2019, is currently the group’s vice chair. A co-owner of a fence company, she has taught courses in small business management in community college, according to her State Board of Education biography. Little, who could not be reached for an interview, has voted against presenting a “biased view” of the fossil fuel industry and social studies standards that “water down our history,” according to her campaign website. She listed as her accomplishments while on the board, among other things, implementing phonics-based curriculum standards, approving personal financial literacy education and updating the Texas Dyslexia Handbook.
District 15
Aaron Kinsey, the current chair of the board, is running against Morgan Kirkpatrick and Jack Westbrook in District 15, which includes Ector and Lubbock counties. Kinsey, a Midland Republican, was elected to the board in 2022 and appointed chair by Gov. Greg Abbott last December. Kinsey, who did not respond to requests for an interview, is a former Air Force pilot who now oversees an aviation oil field services company in Midland, according to his online biography. At the Texas Republican Party Convention this year, Kinsey acknowledged he did not know much about the State Board of Education prior to running but that he did “understand the greatness of Texas” and that his family’s values were not being represented in public schools. Among Kinsey’s top priorities, he said at the convention, is for schools to teach Texas children “how to think and not to hate themselves.” He also advocated for curricula that embrace “capitalism and self-reliance as nobel quests.” Kinsey proclaimed at the end of his speech: “You have a chairman who will fight for these three-letter words: G-O–D, G-O-P, and U-S-A.”
https://www.texastribune.org/2024/10/18/texas-state-board-of-education-races-2024/