Sadun Declares for SBOE

Lorenzo Sadun (photo by John Anderson)

UT math professor and unsuccessful 2004 congressional candidate Lorenzo Sadun declared last week that he seeks to unseat Cynthia Dunbar from the State Board of Education.

Republican Dunbar, of Richmond, makes a pretty inviting target for Democrats like Sadun since she's made a spectacle of herself in recent months, both on issues that the SBOE affects and ones that it doesn't. Dunbar's District 10 takes in all or part of 16 counties, including all of Travis County north of the Colorado River.

Also expected to jump into the race, again on the Democratic side, is Susan Shelton, who just finished her stint as political director of the victorious Lee Leffingwell for Mayor campaign. Shelton has not made her candidacy official yet.

UPDATE: As noted in the comment below, Democrat Judy Jennings has also thrown her hat in the Dist. 10 ring.

Press release from Sadun after the jump.

Lorenzo Sadun for State Board of Education For immediate release

AUSTIN, June 18 – Lorenzo Sadun declared his candidacy today for the State Board of Education (SBOE) in District 10, a seat currently held by Cynthia Dunbar. A scientist and award-winning educator with 28 years of teaching experience, Dr. Sadun has closely watched the SBOE and has testified before the Board on several occasions.

Dr. Sadun has been a math professor at the University of Texas since 1991. In that time, he has watched the math and science skills of incoming students steadily decline. “Our kids deserve a first-rate K-12 education, but in too many cases they’re not getting it,” he remarked. “We need real science in the schools, not religious doctrine dressed up in the language of science.”

“Right now, the State Board of Education is dysfunctional,” said Sadun. “Instead of working to improve public education in Texas, the controlling bloc of social conservatives is intent on fighting the culture wars. Instead of appointing qualified experts to guide them, they are appointing ideologues. Instead of listening to teachers and scientific experts, they listen to pressure groups. This has to stop.”

The incumbent, Cynthia Dunbar, does not even pretend to support public education. In her book, One Nation Under God, she writes that public education is “clearly tyrranical” (page 103) and “a subtly deceptive tool of perversion” (page 100). Her own children are home schooled.

Dr. Sadun is married with three children, all of whom attend public school. He is an active participant in Congregation Kol Halev of Austin, has served two terms as president, and strongly believes in the separation of church and state. “Religion plays an important role in my life, and in the lives of most Americans, but that’s private. We don’t impose our religious views on people who believe differently.”

More information can be found on the campaign website, www.LorenzoSadun.com, or by emailing [email protected].

SBOE District 10 includes all of Austin, Bastrop, Burleson, Colorado, De Witt, Fayette, Gonzales, Lavaca, Lee, Milam, Waller, Washington and Williamson Counties, and parts of Brazoria, Fort Bend, and Travis Counties.

Lorenzo Sadun is employed by the University of Texas at Austin, but his views do not necessarily reflect the views of the University.