Denton ISD teacher and a Flower Mound school liaison chair vie for State Board of Education District 14 seat

Voters in Denton County are choosing this fall who will represent them on the Texas State Board of Education, and the two candidates for District 14 come at the job from different sides of the classroom door.

Democrat Amy Taylor has taught in Denton ISD for 17 years, most of that time working with gifted students and English language learners on a Title I campus, the Denton Record-Chronicle reported Tuesday. Republican Mindy Bumgarner has a background in mental health and psychology, has chaired the Flower Mound School Liaison Committee and ran unsuccessfully for the Lewisville ISD board in 2023.

Her husband, Rep. Ben Bumgarner, represents Texas House District 63 and is also on the Nov. 3 ballot.

District 14 stretches across parts of 19 counties, among them Denton, Dallas, McLennan, Ellis and Wise.

What the board does

The 15-member elected board does not set school funding, which is the Legislature's job. It does write curriculum standards, set graduation requirements, oversee the Permanent School Fund and review charter school approvals by the education commissioner, with the power to veto an applicant.

Where they stand

Taylor lists five priorities: age-appropriate instructional materials that are not religious, keeping public money in public classrooms, easing up on high-stakes testing, a living wage for teachers and curriculum written by educators.

At a Denton ISD Council of PTAs forum, she said recent curriculum changes have been driven by ideology and politics rather than students, and she argued the board has been taken over by people pursuing a political agenda. She pointed to new standards that teach kindergartners the phrase "constitutional republic" as an example of material pitched too young.

Bumgarner's four priorities are responding to parents, school choice that lets families use public money for private, religious and charter schools, teaching curriculum rather than test prep, and a focus on reading, math, writing and critical thinking.

She told the newspaper that getting a Section 504 accommodation plan for her own child showed her how frustrating the system can be for families, and that the experience would shape how she judges curriculum decisions.

On the newly adopted social studies standards, she said students should study the full history of religious traditions, including Islamic empires, and learn about the Sept. 11 attacks while distinguishing al-Qaida from Muslims as a whole.

The money

State filings show Bumgarner's campaign has brought in about $130,825, compared with about $18,264 for Taylor, according to the Record-Chronicle. Most of Bumgarner's total came from her late father, who gave $85,000, and from her own $15,000 contribution, with $17,000 from the Denton County Republican Lincoln Cabinet PAC and $10,000 from a Dallas school choice advocate.

Taylor's money came mostly from individual donors, plus small amounts from Democratic, teacher and agriculture teacher groups.

Both names appear on Denton County ballots through the end of early voting on Oct. 30 and on Nov. 3.

Sources

Denton Record-Chronicle