Texas school board candidate says he's 'Christian enough' for District 9

Two candidates in Texas are vying for the GOP nomination for the State Board of Education in District 9, and a political show host asked one of them if he is "Christian enough" for the position.

On "Inside Texas Politics," Keven Ellis and Mary Lou Bruner came face to face to make their positions known to local voters. During the discussion, they talked about funding and how to make schools more efficient.

For Ellis, schools need to be funded properly but the district is responsible for making sure that the budget is spent wisely.

"It's not so much how much you spend, it's more how you spend it," he said.

For her part, Bruner said that schools need to do good teaching upfront so there would be no need to remediate students. There is a need to give kids a good foundation, and with that, there would be no need for very expensive remedial programs. She is also against mandatory classes for three-year-olds.

"When you have 3 year olds in school then that's going to be very expensive because it's going to require a teacher and and aide for a very small number — I don't know what that would be — but I'm saying it might be 10 or 12 [students]," she said.

Responding to this, Ellis said that pre-K education is beneficial, "but when you say we shouldn't do pre-K because our teachers are teaching a homosexual agenda to the children, I think that's a whole different vantage point."

According to Raw Story, Bruner views that pre-K programs indoctrinate little kids into "homosexual agenda."

Meanwhile, host Bud Kennedy mentioned that Bruner wants creationism taught in science class, a view that is said to be shared by the district.

Kennedy then asked Ellis, "Are you Christian enough to represent this district?"

"Yes, I am. I've taught Sunday school and Bible quiz in my church in 20 years. And I believe it's my responsibility to teach my faith to my children," Bruner replied. "The catch of when you get religion in school is whose religion is going to be taught?"

For her part, Bruner said that in science class, if only one theory is taught, then its actually teaching religion -- the religion of atheism.

The runoff for the GOP nomination takes place on May 24.