Hey y’all, 

We’re less than a week out from the start of early voting, and less than a month out from Election Day. While notable statewide races are dominating the news, we can’t forget about several down ballot races that will play a key role in shaping education in Texas. That’s why today we’ll take a look at all the State Board of Education candidates you’ll find on your ballot across Texas on Nov. 3 and we’ll also look at the role Texas Education Agency Commissioner Mike Morath could play in this year’s governor’s race.

You’ll also find information on free college application week, the extreme and unusual consequence the state’s ban on drag performances had on a North Texas public school theater department, and we’ll start a new banned book for the month of October. 

You can read last week’s edition here.

TEA Commissioner Mike Morath—who holds one of the most powerful positions in Texas education— isn’t actually on the ballot in any election race. But just because you won’t find his name on your ballot doesn’t mean you can’t still have a hand in who gets appointed to the role. 

The role, which is appointed by the governor, oversees pre-K through high school public and charter education for Texas’ 5.5 million students. The role also supports the State Board of Education in developing statewide curriculum standards, and has the authority to take over struggling school districts. 

If you’ve been to one of Democratic candidate Gina Hinojosa’s recent campaign events, then you’d know she’s running on firing Morath on day one as governor. 

Why is that message resonating with voters?

Since the governor has the power to appoint the TEA commissioner, Morath’s track record—and Abbott’s support over the last 10 years—could play a role as parents and teachers head to the polls in November. 

You have the chance to weigh-in on who will manage Texas’ public school students this midterm election year.⁣

⁣Several State Board of Education seats across Texas will be on the ballot, and each position holds the tremendous power of deciding education policy, curriculum, graduation requirements, and instructional materials for public education in Texas. See what candidates are running where below: 

A female student in Grand Prairie ISD was removed from her role as Seymour—a male—in her high school’s production of “Little Shop of Horrors” after district officials raised concerns about it violating a 2023 Texas law that bans drag performances in front of minors.

A week into rehearsals, the student was pulled into a meeting with her theater director and learned the district was taking away her part, according to reporting from The Dallas Morning News. 

The district initially said the part would be reassigned to a boy, but ended up canceling the musical entirely.

Senate Bill 12, passed in 2023, has faced legal challenges, and in August 2026 a judge found it to be an unconstitutional restriction on speech, and permanently barred Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton from enforcing it.

Paxton has appealed the decision, and despite the court’s ruling, the law continues to create widespread confusion across public school theater departments. Additional districts such as Keller and Sherman ISDs have also canceled performances in recent years over students in specific roles and the content of the plays. 

During the month of October, we’ll be reading “Looking for Alaska” by John Green. 

It’s become one of the most banned books not just in Texas, but the country this past school year. The novel, written in 2005, has been banned in Katy, Frisco, and Klein ISDs. I read it for the first time when I myself was in high school, and resonated with its themes of youth, friendship, grief, and transitioning into adulthood.

Here are some discussion questions to get you started: 

1. What does Miles’s interest in famous people’s last words tell us about his personality and his desire to understand life’s meaning?

2. How does Alaska challenge Miles’s expectations about friendship, attraction, and independence?

3. How does the school’s social hierarchy shape the characters’ behavior? In what ways does Culver Creek resemble a larger society?