After two years mired by school pandemic closures and a reinvigorated national conflict over classroom teachings, the typically overlooked positions are now under the spotlight.
Rep. Gary Gates (R-Richmond) announced his support for four candidates in two different school districts.
“What you’re voting for: Protecting your parental rights in your children’s education. The key issues here are gender indoctrination, [Critical Race Theory] in the classroom, and pornography in the school libraries [and] supporting math, science, reading, and writing in your children’s classrooms,” his email reads.
The candidates he’s endorsed are David Hamilton and Rick Garcia for two different Fort Bend ISD positions and Victor Perez and Bonnie Anderson in separate Katy ISD races.
Rep. Jared Patterson (R-Frisco) has similarly endorsed school board candidates in two different districts: Stephanie Elad in Frisco ISD and Pam Johnson in Lewisville ISD.
“I’ve largely stayed out of Frisco ISD board elections over the years,” Patterson said, announcing his support for Elad. “However, recent events have proven that this cycle is incredibly important. We are in a culture war against the far left, whether you’ve realized it or not.”
Patterson has been outspoken about sexually explicit materials found in the libraries of schools in his district. He even identified one book vendor, Perma-Bound, whose bundle included books such as “Gender Queer.”
“It doesn’t stop with sexually explicit books in the library, either. Look at the Florida/Disney issue. The woke mob chose to attack Florida because they passed a Parental Rights bill precluding schools from teaching far-left sex education about gender identity and sexual orientation to kindergarten through third graders!”
The Texas legislature appears primed to pass its own version of the Florida “Parental Rights in Education Bill” which prohibits discussing sexual topics in the classroom with certain ages of students. The lieutenant governor has declared it among his top priorities, and Gates announced his intention to file companion legislation in the lower chamber.
“Instead of stepping up, apologizing and working with us to be more proactive,” Patterson added of the current Frisco ISD administration and the way it’s handled the library content controversy, “they skirted our requests, downplayed the issue and put the responsibility of policing libraries on the backs of parents.”
Also in the Metroplex area, state Rep. Brian Harrison endorsed Mike Dillow in the Midlothian ISD board race. “School Board elections are crucial for the future of Texas,” he said. “Mike will put our children’s education first, empower parents with full transparency, support teachers, lower taxes, fight the liberal special interests, and keep CRT out of our schools.”
The themes are clear and consistent with what’s occurred throughout the country. Here in Texas last year, conservative-backed candidates won spots two spots on the Houston ISD school board and unseated three incumbents were unseated from the Cy-Fair ISD board.
Transparency concerns and opposition to critical race theory-imbued teachings spurred multiple such instances across the state.
Last week, Congressman Chip Roy (R-TX-21) even waded into the Dripping Springs ISD race, endorsing candidates Tricia Quintero and Olivia Bernard.
He said, “I recognize how important it is for our school board to fully reflect the values of our community, promote financial and curriculum transparency, and — most importantly — empower parents and protect students instead of radical special interests, corrupt unions, and rogue bureaucrats.”
While Roy’s campaign spokesman said the congressman doesn’t plan to make a regular habit of picking sides in school board races, he said the congressman believes they are of the utmost importance in the hierarchy of political races.
Republicans in Texas see the example of Glenn Youngkin winning the Virginia governorship, driven significantly by parental discontent with their school systems, and hope to emulate that advantage in the Lone Star State.
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Brad Johnson
Brad Johnson is a senior reporter for The Texan and an Ohio native who graduated from the University of Cincinnati in 2017. He is an avid sports fan who most enjoys watching his favorite teams continue their title drought throughout his cognizant lifetime. In his free time, you may find Brad quoting Monty Python productions and trying to calculate the airspeed velocity of an unladen swallow.
