If elected to represent District 14 of the State Board of Education (SBOE), Evelyn Beauman Brooks plans to support policy that would cut out everything that is not academic and leave it to parents to have sex ed discussions with their children.
“A lot of these programs that are now in the schools being taught are attached to state and federal grant funding that we receive, so now we’re beholden in order to keep the money,” Brooks told The Dallas Express. “In the interest of transparency, if I am elected, I plan to propose a policy that will make it mandatory for schools to publicize all instructional textbooks, websites, and online materials to parents, guardians, and citizens.”
Brooks believes that when it comes time to speak with children about sexuality, the autonomy of a parent is undermined when sex education is taught in schools.
“Schools now control the sex ed narrative, values, classroom discussions and instructional materials in place of parents,” she said. “One way to restore autonomy is to give parents access to sex education materials and allow them full control to teach their children according to their family values. Sex ed does not belong in Texas public schools.”
Brooks defeated SBOE incumbent Republican Sue Melton-Malone during the Republican primary on March 1.
Melton-Malone previously voted to allow a health education text book to be utilized in classrooms that included an optional portion on sex education. Melton-Malone told The Dallas Express that she did so after being assured that parents would have the right to decide whether their child learned the information included in the sex education section, and it would not be taught in the general classroom setting.
Although she is a Republican, Brooks vows to reach out to all residents, regardless of their political affiliation.
“Children have no R or D behind their name,” she said. “I want to convey the message to everyone that we honestly just have to do something in order not to fail this generation and just put our heads together to really problem solve and do what we know is right, based off of facts, research, and evidence, and to continue to fight for more transparency and more parental involvement.”
District 14 includes a small part of Tarrant County, as well as Bosque, Brown, Comanche, Coryell, Denton, Eastland, Ellis, Erath, Hamilton, Hill, Hood, Jack, Johnson, Lampasas, McLennan, Mills, Navarro, Palo Pinto, Somervell, Stephens, and Wise counties.
“I plan to be actively involved in the ISDs that are in my district,” Brooks said in an interview. “I’ve already started to develop some really good relationships and building bridges between the State Board of Education and the ISDs I serve. There’s a lot of missing parts there that need to be improved, such as the Open Meetings Act and ensuring that our board meetings are giving parents and citizens an opportunity to be heard.”
Another policy priority for Brooks is ensuring fiscal responsibility in the Permanent School Fund.
“I want to be more involved in that and to understand how that process works in the state of Texas just to ensure that we protect that money and use it for what it was actually created for, which is for our public schools,” she said. “There’s a lot more that’s tied to the Permanent School Fund than just education.”
Although she supports more charter school approvals, Brooks considers herself pro-public school.
“Our public schools are here to stay because public school has worked,” she said. “There are so many terrific people who have graduated from our public schools. It’s a part of the American dream, and it is possible. I believe that we can fix this. I just think that it definitely takes more involvement on every level.”
Brooks’ next challenge is to defeat her Democratic opponent, Tracy Fisher, in the upcoming November 8 elections.
“It’s going to be a very tight race,” said Mary D. Lowe, Moms for Liberty chairman for the Tarrant County chapter. “We are going to have to buckle down. Her opponent is very formidable.”
Fisher, who advanced from the Democratic primary on March 1, has served on the board of Coppell ISD since 2012. She graduated from the University of Nebraska with a bachelor’s degree in business administration and previously worked for Frito Lay, according to media reports.
“Moms for Liberty is launching a chapter in Ellis County in District 14, which will give Evelyn a coalition of people who will support her ideas and help get out the vote,” Lowe told The Dallas Express. “It helps to have a network of people who are moms that communicate with other moms on a regular basis and can pretty quickly get support out for a candidate.”
As previously reported in The Dallas Express, Brooks is an educator who has taught in four different school districts as well as in private schools. Currently, she teaches at a co-op and volunteers at a South Dallas public school. Her education includes a bachelor’s in elementary education from Bowie State University in Maryland.
“We feel at Moms for Liberty that Evelyn is an excellent choice,” Lowe said in an interview. “Evelyn has been on the front lines already, independent of any kind of group or organization, and she has seen the break in trust between parents and government education.”
As the winner of the GOP primary for SBOE District 14 on March 1, Brooks is now among the highest-ranking elected black female Republicans throughout the state of Texas, according to political strategist Rich Scott.
“She may very well be setting a historical precedent for being the first black woman elected as a Republican to the State Board of Education,” he said. “People like Senator Ted Cruz will pick up the phone if she calls them, which is a pretty significant accomplishment to have if she is elected in November.”
Because Texas is the second-largest state in the union and the biggest state for conservatism, Scott predicts that if Brooks defeats Fisher in November, she will be influential not just in the state, but across the nation.
“Everybody’s watching Texas because Democrats are trying to turn the state Blue,” Scott told The Dallas Express. “Evelyn is inspiring. She’s just a regular mom who wants to make a change. She doesn’t have an ivy league degree or a Fortune 500 corporate career. She’s living proof that anybody can make changes in this country. You don’t have to be a professional politician. There’s strength in that and it will give other women, black and white, encouragement.”
Brooks plans to use her influence to unify Texans.
“We’re great together,” she said. “We make up a beautiful nation. We’re different but we are one nation. I really hate the political division that I’ve seen happening the past three to five years. I would like to be a part of healing from our past, moving forward, and embracing how strong we are with the possibilities for our future.”