IS THERE A REAL DOCTOR IN THE HOUSE?

By Juan Montoya

For years, the employees under Oscar Cantu Sr., administrator of the Brownsville Independent School District's Adult Continuing Education Department have suffered under his despotic and arrogant behavior.
Most of the instructors are teachers who have retired from the district and augment their fixed-incomes teaching adults. Cantu, who hires and fires them at his own discretion, is said to have used this power to convert their lives and work environment into a living hell.
"He has a system of favorites and snitches that he uses to manipulate people in the department," said a teacher who quit the department instead of putting up with the treatment. "I have seen secretaries run crying into the bathroom after he gets done humiliating them."
That is why Sunday publication of Gary Long's piece in the Brownsville Herald on Cantu and his son's (Oscar Cantu Jr.) use of their doctoral titles obtained from an online institution has caused a surge of joy in the department.
Oscar Cantu Jr., is a special assignment administrator with the Brownsville Early College High School.
Both listed their doctoral degrees in applying for employment to their present positions. The institution – Canbourne University – has been listed as a "degree mill" in the various accrediting agencies. And even though BISD administrators and board members have known about the use of the illegal degrees by both Cantus, they have flaunted their phony credentials much to the dismay of those working under them.
"We heard that they got a letter from the district telling them not to use the titles but they continued to use them anyway," said a worker there.
This is not the end of the senior Cantu's troubles. Word has leaked that a grievance has been filed against him for using the threat of cutting hours of workers to get some work done on his house. The grievance is making its way through the BISD process and has not been heard yet.
One report says that at least four affidavits are included in the grievance supporting the claim.
And there may be others on the way.
"There was a woman there who was looking for some of us to support her claims that she was verbally abused and humiliated by Cantu," said the former teacher.
The Cantus had been displaying their doctoral titles on BISD websites, e-mail and hard-copy correspondence as of last week.
Now, all references to “Dr.” Cantu now have been removed.
One board member said the situation should not have been allowed to linger for as long as it did. However, since the younger Cantu is married to the daughter of a former board member, it is believed that might have played a part in the lackadaisical effort to stop the duo from continuing to use the titles.
"I asked the superintendent for an explanation more than a month ago and I never got a response," said the board member. "That's going to appear in his next evaluation."