Nine Texas State Board of Education seats on ballot, four in Greater Houston
Nine seats on the Texas State Board of Education are on the ballot in November 2026, including four in the Greater Houston area. The board sets curriculum and chooses instructional materials for more than five million public school students across Texas and also develops education policies, oversees teacher certification standards, and holds power to veto charter school applications.
Earlier story. First reported Oct 20, 2026 at 8:52 am; added to this site Oct 21, 2026. Details may have changed since.
- When it happened
- November 2026 election
- Where
- Greater Houston area; Texas
- First reported by an outlet
- Oct 20, 2026 at 8:52 am
- Confirmed by
- the original record or a trusted outlet
Taxes & money
| What | Amount | Who pays |
|---|---|---|
| donations from Texans For Educational Freedom to three Republican candidates in services such as printing, mailers and text message campaigns | more than $300,000[1] | Texans For Educational Freedom |
Who's involved
- Tricia Cave · lobbyist for the Association of Texas Professional Educators (ATPE)[1]
- Allison Bush · Democrat candidate for District 5[1]
- Victoria Hinojosa · Republican candidate for District 2[1]
- Kason Huddleston · Republican candidate for District 9[1]
- Tiffany Nelson · Republican candidate for District 6[1]
- Christopher Zook Jr. · founder of Texans For Educational Freedom[1]
The facts
- Nine seats on the Texas State Board of Education are on the ballot in November 2026, including four in the greater Houston area. [1][1]
- The board sets curriculum and chooses instructional materials for more than five million public school students across Texas. [1][1]
- The board develops education policies, oversees the State Board of Educator Certification, and holds power to veto charter school applications. [1][1]
- The current board makeup includes 11 Republicans and four Democrats. [1][1]
- Nearly a third of the board seats are guaranteed to be taken by new faces, with six incumbents not seeking re-election in 2026. [1][1]
- In the summer of 2026, the board approved changes to curriculum including rewriting social studies lessons for kindergarten through eighth grade to de-emphasize world history in favor of Texas and U.S. history. [1][1]
- In September 2026, after objections during public comment, the board approved changes to history lessons that portray Islam in a largely negative light; those changes will take effect for the 2030-2031 school year. [1][1]
- Texans For Educational Freedom donated more than $300,000 in services such as printing, mailers and text message campaigns to Victoria Hinojosa for District 2, Kason Huddleston for District 9, and Tiffany Nelson for District 6. [1][1]
Who said what
- Tricia Cave, lobbyist for the Association of Texas Professional Educators The State Board of Education is one of the most influential governing bodies for public education in the entire state, with a super important role that has a lot of influence on how children are brought up and what they learn.[1]
- Tricia Cave Once changes are approved by the board, schools can be stuck with them for years, usually around a decade that children live with whatever standards have been adopted.[1]
- Tricia Cave Everything children learn — the standards they are taught, the materials they learn from, how education is delivered and even what school boards can and cannot do — is determined by the state board of education, which is only 15 people that control the entire state's educational output.[1]
- Texans For Educational Freedom They are committed to fighting critical race theory and other anti-American agendas and curriculum.[1]
Sources
- News Center Nine State Board of Education seats are on the ballot this fall, including 4 in the Greater Houston Area Houston Public Media · Oct 20, 2026
Written by AI from the sources above, under fixed rules: every fact is cited, claims are kept apart from facts, and dollar figures appear only when a source states them. Mistakes get corrected in public.