Jackie Zeigler and David Perry are unopposed in the 2024 Republican primary for their State Board of Education seats.
The deadline to qualify with the Alabama Republican and Democrat Parties was Friday.
Zeigler says she wants to continue her efforts to return common sense to the school system.
According to Zeigler, she led the statewide campaign that defeated Amendment One in 2020. It would have taken away the right of citizens to vote for school board members and made them appointed by the governor. She successfully passed a ban on Critical Race Theory in Alabama schools. She fell short in efforts to prevent the lowering of reading standards for promotion from third grade.
“We need to stop social promotions. We are doing no favors to students to promote them when they cannot read at grade level,” Zeigler said. “Alabama was progressing impressively right before the national standards were adopted. We need to return to Science of Reading, basic math, and old-fashioned teaching. We do not need to teach to the test.”
Zeigler was elected to the State Board in 2016 and re-elected in 2020. She represents District 1. Perry represents District 5. Tonya Smith Chestnut, the Democrat incumbent, also qualified to run in District 5.
Board of Education Districts 3 and 7 will both have competitive primaries.
Ann Eubank, former State Rep. Charlotte Meadows (R-Montgomery), Kelly Mooney, and Melissa Snowden all qualified for the Republican primary in District 3. Incumbent Stephanie Bell isn’t running for re-election, according to Alabama Daily News.
Doug Bachuss, Allen Long, and Oscar Mann all qualified for the Republican primary in District 7. Belinda McRae, the incumbent, did not qualify to run for re-election.
The 2024 primary election in Alabama is on March 5. The primary runoffs are on April 16. The general election will be held on November 5.
Editor's note: The original version of this story stated no Democrats qualified to run for State Board of Education seats by Friday. That was incorrect. We apologize for the error.
To connect with the author of this story or to comment, email caleb.taylor@1819News.com.
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