Gov. Greg Abbott (R-TX)
The
Texas Board of Education creates "policies and standards for Texas public schools." Gov. Greg Abbott's choice to head this body setting policies and standards for Texas public schools is a woman whose own children
never attended those public schools—they were homeschooled and then sent to a private high school. But hey, she's a former aide to the state's Republican lieutenant governor.
The problem here seems obvious.
Even Republican State Board member Thomas Ratliff called the move a mistake.
“Public school isn’t for everybody, but when 94 percent of our students in Texas attend public schools I think it ought to be a baseline requirement that the chair of the State Board of Education have at least some experience in that realm, as a parent, teacher, something,” Ratliff argued.
Bahorich's relevant experience, as listed on her
LinkedIn profile, includes "founder/director/board member" of Home Ed Plus, which "provides the opportunity for homeschool families and Christian teachers to come together in support of a high quality academic education for homeschooled students." Naturally she's also a huge supporter of charter schools. Basically any way of getting students out of public schools ... the public schools for which she'll play a major role in setting policy.