Texas isn’t so doomed after all: the state Senate rejected creationist Don McLeroy to head up the Board of Education!
Can I hear a W00t from the choir?
W00t!
McLeroy is a far-right ideologue who has done nothing but obstruct real education efforts in the Texas BoE for years now. He’s the goofball who said “Someone has to stand up to experts!” – because heaven forbid someone with actual knowledge be used to advise the board – and has done all sorts of dodgy things to ram his agenda through.
Now I can hope he’ll go pick up his dentistry practice again, where he’ll no doubt wind up causing less pain to kids.
But don’t think everything is rainbows and unicorns in the Lone Star State now. Governor Rick Perry is the one who picked McLeroy in the first place, and now has to replace him… and the vote to confirm McLeroy was 19 to 11 (it needed a 2/3 majority to pass, so the rejection barely squeaked by), meaning Texas could still see another BoE chair in the “know-nothing creationist hell-bent on shredding the Constitution” category. As we’ve seen, there are plenty to choose from.
So Texans beware! You’ve earned some breathing room. Catch your breath, but be ready to start this fight all over again.
