AUSTIN, April 23 – A border state senator unleashed a diatribe of accusations against the chair of the Texas State Board of Education for what the lawmaker said was an attempt to interject personal religious beliefs into public school curriculum.

“The perception out there is that you have a point of view and you are using this bully pulpit to take the rest of the state there,” Sen. Eliot Shapleigh, D-El Paso, told Chairman Don McLeroy. McElroy was recently reappointed as chair by Gov. Rick Perry and on Wednesday went before the Senate Committee on Nominations.

Shapleigh, armed with a stockpile of statements McLeroy has given to various media outlets, methodically quoted them one by one and asked the chair to respond to them, including one where McLeroy said “there are only the four really conservative orthodox Christians on the board who are the only ones willing to stand up to the text books and say they don’t present the weaknesses of evolution.”

McLeroy said he had his own “personal view on evolution” and said instead the comment was made during a church lesson at Grace Bible Church in Bryan, Texas where several members were discussing the philosophy of naturalism. McLeroy conceded that he could see how the comments, which he said were made to a private Sunday school class, could cause “some concern” but said it was not true that he has done everything in his power to make sure that Intelligent Design was included in science textbooks.

“I would say (instead) I did everything I could to bring up some of the scientific difficulties of evolution. I would say that would be absolutely true,” he said.

Included in a news release sent from Shapleigh’s office was a link to a letter sent by Board of Education member Mary Helen Berlanga, D-Corpus Christi, to Perry in 2008 urging the governor to remove McLeroy. In it she states that McLeroy has failed to properly investigate issues relevant to Hispanic students and has generally ignored the concerns of other board members, teachers and even some Texas House members.

“Don McLeroy has created an aura of deceit and divisiveness. Texas has a very large population of Hispanics and he seems bent on alienating this very significant group of voters,” she wrote. “He has managed to alienate our Texas teachers. For the sake of our state do not allow this master of deceit to continue his very dangerous game.”

Shapleigh expressed his own concerns about McLeroy’s cultural sensitivity.

“Texas is, more and more, different folks from different backgrounds coming together to be the best that they can be,” he said. “In March the board debated creating a book list of 150 literary works that would be recommended for the classrooms.”

Shapleigh then reminded McLeroy that during the process he told a reporter “…you really don’t want Chinese books with a bunch of crazy Chinese words in them. Why should you take a child’s time trying to learn a work that they will never ever use again?”

“What would you tell the people in my district about that degree of sensitivity?”

Shapleigh then inquired.

McLeroy did not mince words, however, when he said he wished he could retract the remarks.

“I would have to apologize for the way that came across,” he said. “I was referring to reading books with the reporter. The students are going to learn to read English and my purpose would be that (for) the students learning to read English, that you want to have as many good solid English words that they need to learn and that’s what I meant. The way it came presented in the newspaper story, I am embarrassed about that, and I am embarrassed that I said that. I wish I hadn’t said it.”

McLeroy must receive a two-thirds vote to be confirmed for a second term as chair, but could also be stripped of some of his powers if he is successful. Several bills, more than a dozen actually, have been filed this session to dilute the board’s power, which Shapleigh said is indicative of the “hornet’s nest” McLeroy created.

McLeroy did have some support, however, as board member Ken Mercer and constitutional law attorney Jonathon Saenz testified in favor of McLeroy’s reappointment.

Saenz said that all the criticisms laid out against McLeroy was just a “re-examination” of the debates concerning science book content witnessed by the board during the past year, where Saenz said McLeroy has acted fairly.

“Dr. McLeroy has, I felt, bent over backwards to hold fair hearings,” he said. “That is what is part of his duty is.”

McLeroy’s reappointment was left pending before the committee.