Because of redistricting, all 15 seats on the Texas State Board of Education will be up for grabs in the November 2012 elections. The results of those elections will determine whether the religious right’s corrosive influence over public education will weaken or grow as the board considers what the next generation of public school students in Texas will learn about sex education, social studies, science and other subjects. We plan to publish on TFN Insider candidate announcements for a seat on the SBOE. We will publish announcements in no particular order, and their publication does not constitute any sort of endorsement by TFN. We will redact requests for contributions or mentions of fundraising events from the announcements, but we will provide links to the candidates’ websites (if available).
Sue Melton, District 14, R-Waco
(Current District 14 Board Member: Gail Lowe, R-Lampasas)
Retired educator and small business owner Sue Melton on Dec. 5 filed paperwork to run for the District 14 SBOE seat currently held by former board chair Gail Lowe. Melton’s website is meltonfortexas.com
Why the State Board of Education? Why Now?
As a recently retired educator of 36 years, I am very aware of what is happening in the classroom. Learning should be an enjoyable experience and teachers should be able to teach with creativity and enjoy teaching. Students and teachers need and want to be accountable for what goes on in the classroom, but, don’t need to be shouldered with all of the extra testing and requirements that they must meet. I believe that decisions made concerning what happens in the classroom should be made by educators who have been in the classroom and know what our children and teachers need.
As a 4th generation Texan I have deep roots in our state and a strong foundation in traditional Texas values. A successful small business owner, my father taught me the value of hard work, determination and creativity while my mother instilled in me a love of learning and the value of education.
I’ve known that it was my passion to help children learn and discover the world around them from an early age. My first experiences teaching were in my local church congregation working with children during Vacation Bible School and in the church day care. After receiving a strong education from my local public school system, I went on to receive a degree from Baylor University’s School of Education.
Upon graduating from Baylor my formal career in education began and I quickly realized that there is a lot to learn about being a successful educator. More than 36 years later, my passion for educating the next generation of Texans has brought me a wonderful career and many opportunities to ensure that my students received the best education possible. During my years in the classroom I was honored to be the recipient of the Golden Apple Award for Teaching Excellence and to be twice named to Who’s who Among America’s Teachers.
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