re: #261 Killgore Trout

I believe it really is tapping into fear of “experts”, ( feelings of inadequacy?)

SBOE District 10 Runoff: Experts or Citizens

The State Board of Education (SBOE) continues to be the focus of (liberal) media attention and denigration. The allegations seem to be that a majority of the the SBOE refuses to listen to the “educational experts” on some issues. Yesterday a Democratic State Senator said he would introduce legislation next year to abolish the SBOE because he disagreed with recent decisions of the board. He cites the “social conservatives” on the board for decisions regarding social studies curriculum. These decisions were made at a time when the votes on those issues were ten to five while there are only seven conservatives on the board. I doubt that the Senator would call for the abolition of the Texas Senate when his side loses votes on a party line margin.

This only highlights the current runoff in SBOE district 10. Marsha Farney, a Ph.D in Education from the University of Texas and refers to herself as a “common sense conservative,” and has no endorsements at all on her website. While she has no record of political activity or contributions, her husband Bryan Farney gave $2300 to Barak Obama during the 2008 Democratic Primary.

Her opponent is Brian Russell, a home school dad, who has been endorsed by THSC PAC and a host of conservative Republican leaders and conservative groups. Brian has said, “I believe in a rigorous knowledge-based education that teaches: an unashamedly patriotic view of American history, emphasizing the God-given individual rights and limited government enshrined the Constitution, computational mathematics, not “fuzzy” math, phonics, grammar and writing, and rigorous science in which students learn to analyze, evaluate, and critique all scientific theories.”