I just noticed that we are District 5, so we can vote to change the SBE!
http://www.statesman.com/opinion/voters-can-end-dysfunction-at-state-board-of-233157.html

I will definitely vote. I worked at TEA for 7 years in student assessment and had to sit in on those board meetings. It was definitely a learning experience.

Kim;

I checked through an online district locator and, while we appear to be close to the boundary, it says that we're in SBOE district 10, currently represented by Cynthia Dunbar who's not running for reelection. Rebecca Osborne would make an excellent representative for our children. She's an experienced educator rather than a political ideologue.

hmmmm...i was going off of my voter registration card. will have to check that out!
Either way, being able to vote on this is important!

My voter registration card says School SMD 5, but when I checked my registration online it says SBOE district 10.

Here is a link to an [interesting...and somewhat frightening] article from the NY Times about the TX SBOE.

Apparently, our state board plays an indirect role in setting policy for a lot of other states due to the size of the TX school system...so vote!

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/02/14/magazine/14texbooks-t.html?hpw=&pagewanted=print

(It is called "How Christian Were the Founders?" but I promise it's about the SBOE!)

Yes, Texas has a huge impact on federal education policy in all sorts of ways. So our votes will have a huge impact. Thanks for posting that article. Unfortunately, many decisions have already been made about the English, Science, and Social Studies curricula for the next decade or so, but that doesn't mean those decisions can't change. I'm currently getting my PhD at UT in Language and Literacy Studies and have done some work on policy. If anyone is interested in more sources, beyond the NY Times article, I'd be happy to suggest some.

OK, so, I guess I am new at this and that is why this is so hard. I finally got my citizenship 1 year ago or so. But, my god! They do not make voting easy! How would I have known that early elections were even going on right now, or when any elections are? Luckily, I read this. Now that I have figured out when and where, I can't find out how to find out what district we are in. I thought that would be an easy google search, but apparently not for me. I have no idea where my voter card is, so I can't check that. Can anyone tell me how to find this out? I am not surprised that so many don't vote! This is ridiculous.

p.s. I had to stand up against Dunbar at a SBOE hearing regarding evolution, and wow, I am SO glad she is not gracing us with her presence again!

I think this site will help regarding when/where to vote.

http://www.traviscountytax.org/goVoters.do

-Steve L. on Emma Long St.

Thanks Steve. Turns out that it had my old address, though. I updated it online. Hilarious. I couldn't answer half the questions they wanted about my new address: Block number (does that mean house #), directional prefix, directional suffix, type (house not listed, but apartment and a various amount of other options there, none sound like house to me), and something else, forgot what the name, where the example given was "B". Huh? Oh well, they excepted my minimalistic answers. Once again, I am so not surprised at the lack of voter turnout.