Voters to decide new Fort Worth-area member for State Board of Education

Voters to decide new Fort Worth-area member for State Board of Education

Republican Brandon Hall and Democrat Rayna Glasser are competing for the District 11 seat on the State Board of Education in the Nov. 5, 2024, election. (Courtesy photos | Hall, Glasser campaigns)
” data-medium-file=”https://fortworthreport.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/10/Untitled-presentation-7.jpg?fit=300%2C225&ssl=1″ data-large-file=”https://fortworthreport.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/10/Untitled-presentation-7.jpg?fit=780%2C585&ssl=1″ tabindex=”0″ role=”button”>For the first time in 22 years, Republican Pat Hardy will not represent Tarrant County on the State Board of Education.Instead, voters will decide between Republican Brandon Hall, who defeated Hardy in a March primary, and Democrat Rayna Glasser for the District 11 seat on the State Board of Education. The winner of the Nov. 5 election will represent most of Tarrant County, parts of Johnson and Dallas counties and all of Parker, Hood and Somervell counties.Hall is a pastor at Bethel Missionary Baptist Church in Springtown in Parker County, while Glasser is an instructional coach in Crowley ISD in Tarrant County.Hall did not respond to a Fort Worth Report request to comment.The 15-member State Board of Education’s responsibilities include setting curriculum standards, reviewing and adopting instructional materials, establishing graduation requirements and overseeing the Texas Permanent School Fund.Hall jumped into the race because he wanted to increase school choice and put parents back in charge of their children’s education, he previously told the Report.“I’m running to stand up for the interests of parents, to be a solid, conservative fighter and to be somebody who will make the right decision every time when it comes to getting indoctrination, CRT (critical race theory) and obscene materials out of our schools,” Hall said in February.Glasser’s firsthand experiences in education during her nearly 20 years in schools fueled her decision to run for the State Board of Education, she said.“Just seeing shifts in education over the last 18 years, I see a system that’s broken and things that can be fixed and improved upon,” Glasser said.Hall also wants to improve the state of education in Texas. He wants to ensure every Texas student receives a quality, world-class education that is free from indoctrination, he said.“I think once we weed those things out and get back to the fundamentals of education, it’s really where we’re going to see students thrive and succeed,” Hall said.Glasser wants the State Board of Education to consider revamping the state’s graduation requirements. High school students are required to pass the state’s five end-of-course STAAR — or State of Texas Assessments of Academic Readiness — exams to graduate. Glasser wants to end the requirement.“A single standardized test should not keep our students from being able to get their diploma and walk across that stage,” she said. “We have kids who earn trade certifications and want to join the military, so there should be pathways for our kids to earn their diplomas in other ways.”Religious texts in proposed reading instructionHall and Glasser, both of whom are Christian, disagree on a proposed elementary reading curriculum that incorporates religious texts. The new curriculum is frequently referred to as House Bill 1605, the law that outlined a new expanded process for the State Board of Education to approve high-quality instructional materials.Glasser is concerned about students of other religious backgrounds who may not feel comfortable learning about Christianity in the classroom. Students can learn about their family’s religion through their churches or other places of worship, and parents can even homeschool or send their children to private schools, she said.“If you open it to one religion, you have to open that to all,” Glasser said. “You have to be mindful of where you’re going to draw that line because then you’re opening the door to lawsuits as well because you can’t be discriminatory against one or the other because it’s your personal preference.”Hall has encouraged people to tell their State Board of Education members to support the new reading curriculum.“Why do liberals hate the new curriculum so much? See for yourself. Second graders will learn courage through the story of Queen Esther from the Bible,” Hall said in a September Facebook post that included a photo of the lesson.The State Board of Education is scheduled to vote on the new materials in November.Social studies reviewThe State Board of Education is expected to review new social studies standards in 2025. The winner of the Nov. 5 election will play a role in deciding what schools teach in history classes.History needs to be taught objectively, Hall said.“I think it’s just having somebody who’s going to go through those things with a fine-tooth comb and make sure that our students are protected,” he said.Glasser wants history taught in the way it happened. Topics like slavery or the Holocaust are ugly, horrible parts of history that cannot be taught in a “nicer” way, she said.“We have to teach our kids historically accurate facts as they were because we don’t want to repeat those things,” Glasser said.Charter schoolsThe State Board of Education has veto power over proposed charter schools. Glasser does not have a problem with charter schools. She wants to ensure charter schools are entering an area with an innovative idea and offer a unique education for students. However, the State Board of Education needs to have tighter accountability for charter schools so they are held to the same standards as traditional public schools, she said.“It’s great to have options. But we need to be able to see that these charter schools are going to be held accountable on every level,” Glasser said. “We know that parents are trusting us that if they send their kids, their kids are going to be able to get a quality education in those charter schools, so we need to make sure that we’re setting those standards high when those kids go into that school.”Hall’s approach to charter schools is straightforward.“If the charter school that is seeking approval meets the requirements according to state law, they’ll be approved as far as I’m concerned,” Hall said.Arbitrarily deciding which charter schools should move forward or not is not fair to students and parents, Hall said. More options means parents can send their children to a school with the best education for them as well as push traditional public schools to be better, he added.Money mattersMoney played a key role in Hall’s victory over Hardy in the GOP primary. He garnered more than $500,000 in contributions, mostly through in-kind donations from the political action committee Texans for Educational Freedom.Money has not followed Hall into the fall. Hall received $1,009 in contributions, according to an Oct. 8 campaign finance report filed with the Texas Ethics Commission. The report covered fundraising and spending between July 1 and Sept. 26.Hall spent $166 and has $1,650 in cash on hand. He has a $15,000 loan for his campaign, according to the report.Glasser was unopposed in the Democratic primary. Her last campaign finance report was filed July 15 and covered the first six months of 2024. She raised $2,720 and spent $9,665, leaving $1,040 in cash on hand. Glasser had a $2,570 loan for her campaign.Hardy, the current State Board of Education member for District 11, was reelected in 2022 with more than 63% of the vote. The Democrat garnered almost 37%. The 2024 election is the first under a redrawn map that expanded District 11 beyond Tarrant and Parker counties into more rural areas southwest of Fort Worth as well as into Dallas County.The winner will serve a four-year term.Jacob Sanchez is a senior education reporter for the Fort Worth Report. Contact him at jacob.sanchez@fortworthreport.org or @_jacob_sanchez. At the Fort Worth Report, news decisions are made independently of our board members and financial supporters. Read more about our editorial independence policy here.

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