Republicans will hold onto power at the highest level of education policymaking in Texas after Tuesday night’s election. The election offered the first glimpse into the effects of the newly redrawn districts for the State Board of Education, in which all 15 seats were up for reelection. The new map, which includes nine firmly Republican districts, reinforces Republican control of the board as topics like critical race theory, book bans, and parental involvement in the curriculum have heated up along party lines.
Ten Republicans—including one participant in the January 6, 2021, rally in Washington, D.C., to stop the certification of the presidential election—and five Democrats are expected to take office after Tuesday’s election. That’s a net pickup of one seat for Republicans compared with the current state board.
“Yesterday’s election could have gone better for public education. But it also could have gone a lot worse,” wrote Texas American Federation of Teachers President Zeph Capo in a letter to members.
