Barbara Myers defeated incumbent State Board of Education member Dave Cook by 468 votes difference, according to final returns on Wednesday.
With 25,905 votes to Cook's 25,437, Myers' narrow victory is a testament to "important lessons learned," she said.
"I had no fund-raising - I didn't have the union endorsement. It's a sign that people want change."
Myers said a bureaucracy that doesn't have a discernible line of authority makes accountability difficult. Eight or nine appointed boards, she said, are doing some of the work that should be handled by the school board.
"It's important to have someone in there to say this isn't the way to go," she said.
Myers also plans to defend the school board in the Legislature next year.
"It would be a huge error to get rid of the state board."
Myers is a speech therapy teacher at Lahontan Elementary School.
Cook, still hospitalized after recording an irregular heartbeat as part of a cardiac stress test on Tuesday, was conciliatory in his defeat.
"It's been on honor and privilege to serve the public for the last 12 years," he said. Four of those years have been spent on the state school board. "I hope the state board continues to move forward with standards, testing and accountability."
For Myers, part of her membership will be spent in a rebuilding period. Six of the 11 board members are new.
Cook underwent an EKG test Wednesday. He has a history of heart problems that includes a quadruple bypass and auxiliary surgery in 1997. He teaches economics at Western Nevada Community College.
The vote breakdown was as follows:
- Carson City: Myers 7,808; Cook 8,614
- Washoe County: Myers 7,937; Cook 6,582
- Douglas County: Myers 6,551; Cook 6,630
- Lyon County: Myers 2,817; Cook 2,935
- Storey County: Myers 792, Cook 676
