Alabama State Board of Education member Tracie West on Thursday announced that she will run for a second term on the state board of education. A Republican, West was elected in 2018 after serving nearly 10 years on the Auburn City Schools Board of Education.
In announcing her reelection bid, West pointed to her record as a state school board member.
“When I ran in 2018, I pledged to push for a master plan for our state school board,” said West. “Now, for the first time, our state board of education has a 5-year master plan designed by citizens from across Alabama. We finally have a blueprint for how we will improve our education system and increase student achievement.”
West expressed her desire to ensure Alabama’s public schools remain open for in-person learning.
“I will continue to fight for our schools and aggressively advocate for our students,” vowed West. “Before COVID hit, we were really starting to make good progress for our schools. Right now, we’ve got to make sure that our schools stay open and that we help students catch up,” she stated.
West noted her opposition to the implementation of Critical Race Theory.
“In addition to the pandemic recovery, there are many other emerging issues. I am strongly against the teaching of Critical Race Theory in our K-12 classrooms. Critical Race Theory is not part of our state curriculum and I intend to keep it that way. I’m not going to let the federal government use grants or other education funding to pressure our state into teaching critical race theory or any other liberal attempt to promote socialism or ideologies that don’t reflect our Alabama values,” concluded West.
Tracie West is a native of Lee County and is a 1991 graduate of Auburn University. A year after graduation, Tracie met and married her husband, Lt. Colonel Paul West (US Army Retired).
In 1997, Tracie began operating PakMail, a retail shopping business which she grew to two locations before selling the company in 2018. Tracie is also a licensed Realtor. The couple has three daughters: Lydia, Marion and Kathryn. They attend Church of the Highlands, Auburn campus.
Tracie has invested her time in the community by serving in leadership positions with the Lee County Salvation Army Board, the Lee County Youth Development Center Board, the Auburn Chamber of Commerce Board, the Auburn Rotary Club and the Auburn Commercial Development Authority.
Tracie was named the Auburn Chamber of Commerce 2001 Small Business Person of the Year and received the “Spirit of Auburn” award in 2008, in recognition of her community service.
District 2 of the Alabama State Board of Education covers all or parts of Barbour, Chambers, Clay, Cleburne, Coffee, Coosa, Dale, Geneva, Henry, Houston, Lee, Randolph, Russell and Tallapoosa Counties.
Dylan Smith is a staff writer for Yellowhammer News
