LONGVIEW, Texas — In 1965, Theodore Beard Jr., now 92, marched on Selma across the Edmund Pettus Bridge. A landmark in the civil rights movement, the march fought for African Americans’ right to vote.
Now, decades later, Beard Jr.'s son, Longview ISD trustee Ted Beard, has been chosen to lead the Texas Association of School Boards as its president.
"Both my parents, who are college-educated, even though my mother has passed away, instilled the importance of a quality, equitable education within this country that it is needed and that once you receive that education, no one can take that away from you,” Beard said. “It is something that individuals should not take for granted.”
While Beard Jr. could not pursue the education he wanted as a pharmacist because of a quota system, Beard says he will help make decisions to give all Texas students equal access to education in the state.
Beard Jr. grew up amid segregation and took part in the tumultuous movement for civil rights. He said the violence of those who resisted the change that met marchers on Selma was "terrible."
“They wanted to stop by force,” Beard Jr. said. But it did not stop him from continuing to advocate for change — a trait he passed onto his son.
Growing up and listening to his parents' experiences ensured that Beard grew up with a focus on equality and equity, he said. The longtime Longview ISD trustee said he wants to continue the advocacy efforts of TASB for public education, the funding of public education, maintaining board integrity and making sure boards can govern and meet the needs of their students.
“I’m just passing on what was passed on to me,” Beard said. “I’m just a small cog in the wheel in doing things for the best interest of the students.”
Beard's experience with enacting equity policies in his district will help him advance these proposals at the state level, he said.
Last year, the district passed a policy to address the needs of students and employees regardless of ethnicity, socioeconomic background or where they came from.
“That was the first step in understanding that equity is an issue throughout the public school system not just in Texas but nationwide, where you have haves and have nots," Beard said. "And to understand that and address that and meet those needs and then codify that in writing, I believe is a first and crucial step for districts to move in a good direction of equity.”
Beard will take over as acting president for TASB next September.
Read more from CBS19's newspaper partner, the Longview News-Journal.
