Ever wonder how some folks at the Brownsville Independent School District can lead such a charmed existence?
Where others are let go for the slimmest of all possible reasons, some just seem to develop a Teflon skin and continue to live off the public.
Some of our sources have told us that one such survivor with a checkered academic past has surfaced again, this time as the principal at Russell Elementary.
We speak of Oscar Cantu Jr., who in May of 2013, was exposed in the Brownsville Herald of padding his academic accomplishments with a bogus Ph.D. from a place called Canbourne University.
That's not all. Not only did Oscar Jr. claim a doctoral degree from that school, but his father, Oscar Cantu, Sr., a retired BISD administrator, also claimed a Ph.D. from Canbourne.
The BISD website names him as the principal of Russell as of June 2015 when he extends his greeting to the staff and students of the school. To his credit, he identified himself as "Mr." Cantu and not as "Dr." Cantu.Oscar Cantu Sr., was at one time the principal of Hudson Elementary. After they were exposed,the district ordered them to cease and desist from "displaying their doctoral titles prominently on BISD websites and in e-mail and hard-copy correspondence."
And even though there was ample evidence that both had violated the BISD employee handbook by filling in false information on their application for employment, no action was taken by the administration and Cantu Sr. was allowed to retire quietly on his BISD pension and Cantu Jr. ended up being made principal of Canales Elementary and then was listed one time as an interim administrator in the district's Curriculum Dept.
Both used their political and family ties to entrench themselves in high-paying administrative jobs in the district and could not be removed until the district was shamed into removing them from their respective positions and move them somewhere away from the public eye.
In the case of both Cantu Sr. and Cantu Jr., that came about about three years ago when local education reporter Gary Long wrote an article focusing on their use of the doctoral titles.
In that article, Long documented how both "made frequent and public use of their doctoral titles obtained the Ph.D.s from an online institution whose degrees are illegal in Texas."
Cantu Jr. at first spoke with the Herald about his Canbourne degree, then told Long he would no longer make any statement because he said his "confidential information was being compromised."
However, both men steadfastly denied that they had profited from their fake degrees but did not explain why they had listed them on their resumes.
After Oscar Sr. left Hudson, he was placed as the administrator of Adult Continuing Education in 2006 through his retirement in 2010, when his fake PhD was made public. In those four years, his salary ballooned from $79,528 (2006), $89,372 (2007), $92,746 (2008), and $94,434 (2009-2010), a nearly $15,000 increase in four short years.
Oscar Jr., however, was not as fortunate. He ran into a slight domestic problem after his inappropriate involvement with a subordinate while he was principal at Juliet Garcia Middle School and had to take a paid leave of absence to deal with the stress.
As principal there in 2006, he was paid $74,566, $77,805 in 2007, $82,713 in 2008, and $84,334 in 2009 when he ran into his, ahem, little problem.
Still, after returning from his leave, in 2010, he was reassigned as principal at Canales Elementary at a decreased $79,119 salary, but his performance left much to be desired and he was moved to the curriculum department at the same salary in 2011.
By 2013 he was moved to work as a specialist in language arts and as interim administrator at a $75,248 salary. Interestingly, this differed from what is reported for his slot in the Texas Tribune, which lists his salary at $120,937.
| Name | Agency | Department | Title | Salary |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Oscar Cantu Jr | Brownsville ISD | Curriculum & Instruction | SPLST LANG ART | $120,937 |
It might help to know that Cantu Jr. is married to the daughter former BISD trustee Graciana de Peña, who even out of office still carries some pull with "Old Brownsville," much like former AD Joe Rodriguez still carries clout with his old proteges on the district's staff.
So Cantu Jr. is back as a principal. How things change and still remain the same.
11 comments:
He's smart and he works hard. He is person who should be in education, not like so many in that district. They are just there for the job. Wrong target.
I don't know what your beef is; but past sups of BISD have used the Dr. title and also honorary doctor titles bestowed on them. So ?
"Oscar Cantu Sr. was allowed to retire quietly on his BISD pension."
Juanito, get the facts correctly. BISD does not have a pension program. All teachers retired through a state teacher retirement program. In addition, a school district have no say in allowing an educator on retirement. Retirement for a school educator is based on the Texas Retirement System guidelines.
As per their salaries for Sr. and Jr. for the period of 2006 through 2010, wasn't Lucy and Cata on the board of trustee during this period of time? Why didn't this ladies allowed the district to give these individual such salaries if the salaries were based on bogus degrees?
Past Soup Chowkoski had two. No one made any bones about that . While visiting the TEA (Austin) many employees have their doctors degrees from long distance learning .
Wasn't baby cantu scre-ing on BISD time?
He wasn't so smart, and yes he scr-w hard?
The district only gives second, third, and fourth chances to a select few. If Juanito/a would of done such things or lied about educational credentials, fired imediately and recommended for no re-hire. I hope Oscarito works like a true, dedicated Principal, and stop the bs. Our kids education is on the line here folks. Oscarito may have been given his pick of jobs on a silver platter, but lets face it, now our kids future is on the line and he better serve them well.
What a wonderful example for the students and staff. Jr. has been a joke for years, and this is just one more example of BISD shuffling high paid administrators from job to job instead of a dressing their poor performance.
Why wasn't this dud chopped by hatchet-woman Zendejas? Simple answer to that is that Graciana de Pena has always been a friend and uber-supporter of Zendejas. Can you say favorites?
Palanca...it is all about palanca here in Browntown. The Mexican curse is upon this land, having been imported from across the border, down Mexico way.
4:47, DUMBASS, 2006-2010, that is when Pinche Rick and Ruben the Rat along with Otis the "wuz aka no balls" were trustees.
U.S. Nacos in the U.S. could not cut it in the Mother Country. The gringos couldn't either in their Mother Countries. In spite of our drawbacks and deficiencies , it's the best place to live in the World. (Without the Right-Wing Republicans)
It is all about palanca in Austin, the legislature, the county. The city, etc.
Post a Comment