A shakeup on the Texas State Board of Education could give Democrats more say over what students learn. Before the election, the board had 11 Republicans and four Democrats. Starting in January, seven Republicans and seven Democrats will sit on the board.
One race is still too close to call. In District 8, Democrat Dana Van de Walker leads Republican incumbent Audrey Young by fewer than 600 votes, with about 1% of the vote unaccounted for, according to unofficial returns. If the lead holds, Texas Democrats would win their first board majority since 1994.
The current board approved changes this summer, including a Bible-infused reading list and a social studies curriculum that linked Islam to violence. The Texas Education Agency has pushed districts to adopt Bluebonnet, state-developed instructional materials that include Bible stories. The materials have drawn criticism for containing thousands of errors.
Tiffany Clark, D-DeSoto, who was reelected Tuesday, said, "This is an opportunity to explore and redo some of the things that have currently been put in place that didn't seem to be effective." The board sets learning standards, graduation requirements and textbook adoptions, and it approves charter school applications.