The State Board of Education:

The State Board of Education (SBOE) sets policies and standards for Texas public schools. The primary responsibilities of the SBOE include:  setting curriculum standards;  reviewing and adopting instructional materials;  establishing graduation requirements;  overseeing the Texas Permanent School Fund; appointing board members to military reservation and special school districts; providing final review of rules proposed by the State Board for Educator Certification;  reviewing, with veto authority, the Commissioner's proposed award of new charter schools. 

The SBOE represents about 1.7 million people in each of their districts. They are charged by the Constitution with the investment of the Permanent School Fund (PSF) that is currently valued at approximately $44 billion dollars.  The members of the SBOE are charged with periodically reviewing the education needs of the state and establishing goals for the public school system.  They adopt and promote four-year plans for meeting these needs and goals.  The SBOE approves plans for school accreditation standards and implements the graduation plans voted by the legislature.  The members approve school curriculum standards known as the Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills (TEKS) and also approve textbooks.   The members of the SBOE devote a massive amount of time listening to public testimony about the educational concerns of Texas citizens as well as reviewing hundreds of pages of information about education matters.   The members of the SBOE do not receive a salary.  They meet at least three complete days about every other month of the year at a great personal sacrifice for no compensation in return. 

LANI POPP is a 28-year experienced educator with academic degrees in education and speech pathology.  She has worked both in the public and private sectors in education, teaching and composing music, and working with autistic students.  She is a small business owner.

Her work was recognized when she was named a finalist for the teacher of the year award and when working with Governor Perry to have Texas designated as National Anthem State.

She seeks to work on age-appropriate curriculum standards and reform standardized testing.

LANA JEAN HOLLAND has advanced academic degrees in education with certifications to be a teacher, principal, and superintendent.  Her Ph.D. is in educational leadership.

She has previously served as a local board of education member in the George West ISD, specializing in budgets and finances.  She has worked as a testing consultant in mathematics and writing curricula.

She a mother and grandmother.

PATRICIA HARDY has a long-term commitment to the State Board of Education.  As a life-long educator, she has demonstrated her strong conservative leadership on the current SBOE.  Her work and leadership have been recognized with numerous education-related honors as well as being named for multiple study abroad programs.

EVELYN BROOKS has packed a lot of experiences and achievements into her tenure as an educator for eight years in multiple states and as a home-school mom for 10 years.

She seeks to ban Critical Race Theory and Social and Emotional Learning from the curricula.  She proposes to use the bible as a worldview on which to base curriculum decisions and is a strong proponent of the 2nd amendment.