WILL WE PROVIDE BISD-REJECTED CORTEZ WITH A STEPPING STONE TO ACHIEVE HIS POLITICAL AMBITION?

By Juan Montoya

Some past Brownsville Independent School District board members still remember when they visited the Texas Legislature in Austin with some administrators to lobby against unfunded federal mandates that would have to be paid by local districts.
As they tell it, they were wondering the hallways of the Texas capitol looking for the names of the key legislators they wanted to collar and make their pitch to protect school districts who were having to bear the costs of implementing the mandates from Washington.
Among them was former trustee Ruben Cortez, who said to the group: "One of theses days my name is going to be on one of these doors."
The groups stood in silence until one wisecracked: "Ruben, it looks like you already have your name on a few of these doors."
"What do you mean?," asked Cortez.
"Well, I remember passing a few doors with the word 'Men' on them," responded the other.
In the roar that followed, with former superintendent Hector Gonzales choking with back his laughter, Cortez stood unsmiling.
"Ruben meant it," said a trustee who was there. "He was serious when he said his goal was to be a state rep from South Texas."
Cortez hasn't allowed his overweening desire to be dampened by the rejection of the BISD voters when they ejected him from the board after he and the former majority basically gutted the district of its reserves to cover the egregious overspending on construction projects that enriched local architects and contractors.
In two short years, the district went from a reserve balance of $175 million to $68 million. It was change-order galore on several school projects, the most notable was the Veterans Memorial High School that went from a planned $45 million price tag to more than $60 million.
Then he, along with his fellows on the majority schemed to fire the superintendent, the Chief Financial Officer and the director of the Special Needs Department. In the litigation that followed, the district had to spend hundreds of thousands of dollars ($100,000s) to defend them. In fact, the spending continues as Cortez and his fellows still have two lawsuits in federal and state court charging them with conspiring to rig insurance bids, retaliation, defamation and violation of civil rights.
The BISD, which had been the recipient of the prestigious Broad Award which netted it $2 million in scholarships and the CUBE award for the performance of its administration and board of trustees, earned the unflattering slogan of going "From Broad to Broke" during his watch.
Undaunted, after he was rejected by the BISD voters in 2010, he continued his upward climb into the politics by running – and getting elected to – the Region One board of directors. After the 2010 census, when the 15 districts in the Texas State Board of Education were redrawn, he saw a chance to advance his ambition and is now running for District 2,which serves the counties of Aransas, Calhoun, Cameron, Goliad, Jackson, Kenedy, Kleberg, Matagorda, Nueces, Refugio, San Patricio, Victoria, Wharton and Willacy, as well as parts of Hidalgo County.
Unbelievably, he, a high school graduate, somehow wrangled the endorsement of the Texas State Teachers Association (TSTA) for the position over two better educated and qualified professionals. One of them, Kingsville Independent School District (KISD) Trustee Larry E. Garza R.Ph. has nineteen years of service on the KISD School Board and is a licensed pharmacist. The other, Celeste Zepeda Sanchez, D-San Benito, just up the road from Brownsville is assistant superintendent for curriculum with the San Benito School District with 45 years of experience in education.
She has the breadth and depth of experience ranging from her early years as an elementary school teacher that followed her migrant students to Michigan providing summer classes for these Texas school children to serving as the Director of the Gifted and Talented Program at San Benito ISD, followed by a position as Assistant Superintendent with the Edgewood School District in San Antonio, Texas.
Sanchez holds a Bachelor’s and Master’s degree from Texas A&M-Kingsville.
As the Assistant Superintendent for Curriculum with the San Benito School District where she has focused on curriculum innovation, technology enhancements, and successful efforts in external funding through sponsored grant programs.
Now, really, what business does the TSTA have in endorsing an undereducated political social climber over these two, especially Ms. Sanchez, who has dedicated her life to education? Will their members follow their leadership over the cliff by voting for the least qualified candidate for District 2.

Just last week the Corpus Chrisiti Caller-Times endorsed her for the the Democratic nomination.

An ad in Sunday's Brownsville Herald, McAllen Monitor and Harlingen Valley Morning Star outlines Cortez's utter failure as a trustee at BISD. Do we as voters deserve to foist this man on the unwary $1.7 million residents on District 2?

God forbid!