If you’ve been following the charter application process for Great Hearts and BASIS (granted last week—hooray!), especially if you rode the bus to Austin, then you may have become sort of familiar with some of names and faces on the State Board of Education. For better or worse, eight members of the board said their farewells at the November 16 meeting.
Meet the 2013 State Board of Education:
- District 1 (El Pas0 & West Texas): Martha Dominguez (D) defeated Carlos “Charlie” Garza (R) in the general election
- District 2 (Rio Grande Valley & Corpus Christi): Ruben Cortez Jr. (D) replaces Mary Helen Berlanga (D), who chose not to run again
- District 3 (San Antonio & South Texas): Marisa B. Perez (D) defeated Michael Soto (D) in the primary
- District 4 (Houston): Lawrence A. Allen Jr. (D) returns
- District 5 (San Antonio & Hill Country): Ken Mercer (R) returns
- District 6 (Houston): Donna Bahorich (R) replaces Terri Leo (R), who chose not to run again
- District 7 (Beaumont): David Bradley (R) returns
- District 8 (The Woodlands): Barbara Cargill (& official page) (R) returns
- District 9 (Northeast Texas): Thomas Ratliff (& official page) (R) returns
- District 10 (Central Texas): Tom Maynard (R) replaces Marsha Farney (R), who chose not to run again
- District 11 (Fort Worth & Weatherford): Patricia “Pat” Hardy (R) returns
- District 12 (North Dallas): Geraldine “Tincy” Miller (R) defeated George M. Clayton (R) in the primary
- District 13 (South Dallas & Fort Worth): Mavis B. Knight (D) returns
- District 14 (Waco & Central Texas): Sue Melton (R) defeated Gail Lowe (R) in the primary
- District 15 (Panhandle): Marty Rowley (R) replaces Bob Craig (R), who chose not to run again
My focus is on charter schools, not the textbook wars, but for those of you keeping score, here is the likely breakdown:
- Social conservatives (6): Mercer, Bahorich, Bradley, Cargill, Miller, Rowley
- Moderate Republicans (4): Ratliff, Maynard, Hardy, Melton
- Democrats (5): Dominguez, Cortez, Perez, Allen, Knight
The next meeting of the Texas State Board of Education is scheduled for January 30, 31, and February 1, 2013.
Good sources for SBOE watchers: Texas Tribune and Texas Freedom Network.
