Judy Jennings for State Board of Education District 10 Democratic Primary, March 2, 2010

Please vote for Judy Jennings, Cynthia Dunbar is trying to end public education in Texas.

Unlike incumbent Cynthia Dunbar, Sam Houston saw public education as a great boon. “No longer will the means of elementary learning be limited to those whose private resources are equal to the expense, but the road to distinction in every department of science and moral excellency, will be equally open to all,” he said. And the founders of Texas considered education so essential to “the rights and liberties of the people” that they charged our Legislature with establishing “an efficient system of public free schools” in our Constitution.

The Legislature, in turn, created the State Board of Education to set policy for public education in Texas. But lately, some board members have acted so irresponsibly that the Legislature actually considered stripping the board of many of its duties. The problem: too many members caught up in fighting “culture wars” at the expense of figuring out how to provide our children with an education that will prepare them for the challenges of this new century.

What would you do if your local school board trustee cared more about pursuing a personal agenda rather than seeing to the needs of your child's school? It's hard to imagine such a trustee getting re-elected in any school district in Texas, let alone the eighty-four ISDs that fall, in whole or in part, within the boundaries of SBOE District 10.

We need board members who will be guided by effective measures of what's working, not by ideology, pet peeves or partisanship. Dr. Judy Jennings will be just such a board member, well equipped to make important decisions about meeting the many needs of a diverse and growing state. Read more about Judy here.

“In effect, [Republican incumbent Cythina] Dunbar is on the board to sabotage public education. ... Dunbar should resign and leave the governing of this state's public schools to people who use them, serve them, care about them and understand that they are the future of Texas.”