North Texas native Jamie Kohlmann is running for the State Board of Education with a campaign focused on developing truthful curricula, fighting against the “leftist” agenda in education, and promoting charter schools.
Kohlmann was born and raised in Bedford, has a background in economics, and formerly worked for the Texas Public Policy Foundation as an education policy analyst.
While she now works as a realtor, Kohlmann told The Dallas Express that being the mother of three children has rekindled her passion for education.
“I thought I really cared about education policy before, and now it just means so much more than I could have ever imagined now that I have my own kids,” she said. “I’m running because I think the State Board of Education could be doing better, and that’s what motivates me to run.”
Kohlmann is running for SBOE District 12, a seat currently held by Pam Little. The candidate highlighted her views on school curriculums, political agendas within the education system, and the SBOE’s role in the hot-button issue of school choice.
She said the greatest shortcoming of the SBOE to this point has been its handling of school curricula, asserting that the body has “really fallen short” in its work on courses, instructional materials, and Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills (TEKS).
“In fact, Commissioner Mike Morath of the TEA (Texas Education Agency) testified at a hearing that only 19% of our instructional materials used in Texas public schools are at or above grade level,” she said. “So you have this challenge with kids — half of them aren’t reading at grade level. 60% aren’t doing math at grade level. And that’s no surprise when the instructional materials aren’t at grade level either.”
Kohlmann said the “culture war” aspect of education needs to be addressed. She noted that in 2021, the SBOE was tasked with rewriting the TEKS for social studies curricula.
The SBOE considered an overhaul of the state’s social studies curriculum that would have removed certain requirements for learning about the Constitution and limited government while adding standards for gender theory, as reported by DX. The board voted in September 2022 to postpone the revision to 2025.
During the review process, the TEA pushed for people who promoted “leftist” viewpoints to be included in the SBOE’s workgroups, according to Kohlmann.
“Then they had the first reading, and they have these proposed social studies TEKS that literally had stricken the phrase ‘radical Islamic terrorism’ from any discussion pertaining to 9/11 because that could offend people apparently,” she said. “It said the Alamo was fought over slavery. It said the Texas Rangers were racist. All these things that are clearly a radical leftist agenda.”
“Ultimately, the board did what was right. They tabled that until 2025. So the social studies TEKS have not been rewritten yet, but the process should never have gotten that out of hand like it did,” she continued.
Kohlmann added that both sides of the political spectrum should be included in discussions about public education and said there is no shortage of right-leaning resources for education policy.
“We don’t need to turn to the other side. We have content experts. We can turn to the Texas Public Policy Foundation and we can turn to Eagle Forum. We can turn to all these groups of really knowledgable professionals who happen to share our worldview, and we can tap them for these working committees,” she told DX.
“We don’t want a radical leftist agenda, [but] we don’t want a right-wing agenda,” she said. “We need to present both sides.”
“There’s a way to talk about the history of this country and this state that incorporates what is truthfully, in many ways, a Christian heritage, without excluding other people from that,” she said.
Kohlmann also spoke on the role the SBOE can play in school choice. While the policy element of school choice and school vouchers is in the hands of the Texas Legislature, the process of approving charter schools is the responsibility of the SBOE.
As previously covered by DX, the Texas Legislature failed to pass school choice legislation last year despite four special sessions being called by Gov. Greg Abbott, a staunch supporter of school choice.
Kohlmann said charter approval is the “main role” of the SBOE regarding school choice.
“These charter schools apply to the TEA, … [and] it takes about two years to get through that TEA vetting process,” she said. “Then they’re presented to the State Board of Education for their approval. … [That is] the official role that we have.”
Kohlmann said the SBOE should do what it can to approve more charter schools in Texas.
“We have an estimated 60,000 kids on charter school wait lists in Texas. And yet, we have an incredibly burdensome process to get new charter schools up and running,” she explained. “Of course, we need to make sure that they are well qualified [and] the individuals are well qualified to run them and that they have a good plan that can actually be executed.”
“But I think at some point it’s so burdensome that it actually discourages innovation and discourages talent from coming into our state,” Kohlmann added. “I would like to streamline that process.”
While there are several serious issues that need to be addressed on the board, Kohlmann said, the candidate is looking forward to working alongside like-minded members.
“There are several newer members … in the last couple of years who are vigilant and are fighters like I am,” she said. “I would really be excited to fight alongside them.”
Republican Aaron Kinsey was appointed to serve as chair of the SBOE in December. Of the 15 members currently serving on the board, 10 are Republicans.
