Editor’s note: This is the first in a series of candidate interviews that will appear until the November general election, as part of Community Impact Newspaper’s mission to promote civic involvement. For complete transcripts, interviews with candidates for other positions on the ballot and more information about the election, visit www.impactnews.com/vote10.
Rebecca Bell-Metereau, Democrat
- Education: Indiana University (Ph.D.)
- Experience: Professor of English and film, Texas State University (1981–present); former special assistant to the President at TSU; French interpreter for the U.S. Air Force
- 637-7260, www.voterebecca.com
How does your background make you the best candidate for this position? I have been a teacher for over 30 years, and I’ve taught at Texas State for the last 28 years. My experience there has been teaching people who are going to be teachers and also conducting workshops for public school teachers. ... I have also worked as a Planning and Zoning commissioner for three years in San Marcos, and that is a board that operates in some very similar ways to the State Board of Education. ... I’ve had experience in dealing with processes in the three areas the board manages: curriculum, textbooks selection and management of the Permanent School Fund. If elected to the board, what will be your top priorities? The first priority is to tackle the dropout issue and to figure out how we as a board can offer some leadership in increasing retention and success of students. ... The second is something I hear complaints about from parents and administrators: What started out as a good idea in assessment has turned into the tail wagging the dog. We place so much overemphasis on standardized testing and teaching to the test, I think it’s actually harming our educational process. ... The third is getting good teachers and retaining them. What is your position on sex education in public schools? We need comprehensive health education and that includes age-appropriate sex education. What is your position on the teaching of evolution? Evolution is the accepted scientific theory that should be taught in the science classroom. People who want to include other philosophies and beliefs and theories should place those in other subject areas like religious studies or philosophy. What is your position on the current social studies curriculum standards? The current board has gone so far to the extreme right that they’ve kind of fallen off the edge of the flat earth. They’ve made decisions that even their own party does not understand. When I tell people that they’ve removed the word ‘democracy’ or the word ‘capitalism,’ they don’t understand that at all. How well has the Permanent School Fund been managed? What would you do differently? The Permanent School Fund has been poorly managed because of some conflicts of interest. ... Very few of the people on the State Board of Education are financial managers; they are not experts in the field. ... I really wouldn’t see any objection to having the Permanent School Fund taken away from the State Board of Education.
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