The election in 2010 will be an important one for Texas and for our community. Of course, we have all heard of the important race at the top of the ballot, the Governor’s race, but there are down-ballot races that are also VERY important. One of the most important of these is the State Board of Education, District 10 contest that includes our area. For too long voters have ignored the SBOE race.

Why should you pay attention to the SBOE district 10 race in 2010? Our children’s education is at stake! The SBOE determines the Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills for each subject level, K–12. These TEKS define what teachers are to teach and what students are to learn. They result in standards for textbooks, teacher training, and student testing. Public education is not a partisan issue, so voters of all political stripes should be informed about the choices on the ballots for the SBOE in 2010 and ensure that we are electing high-quality representatives who truly want to improve public education.

We are often poorly represented and poorly served on the SBOE because voter turnout is low and candidates often run unopposed. Ill-considered actions by members of the board have hurt standards of education in our public schools. Instead of working for excellence in education for our children, some representatives have ignored the advice of their own appointed experts and, instead, have imposed their personal opinions on Texas’ public school students. This is not fair to our children or to us.

In our area, SBOE district 10, a number of people are working hard to ensure that we have quality candidates on the primary ballots of both the Republican and Democratic parties. If you would like to learn more or get involved in helping improve our representation on the State Board of Education, join our YahooGroup.