ERASMO BLASTS COMMUNTIES IN SCHOOLS ANTI-DROPOUT GROUP; AND DAMN THE COLLATERAL DAMAGE

By Juan Montoya
For someone who says he is a theology student (and perhaps a minister already), our cyber colleague Erasmo Castro (the Cheez in Cheezmeh) sure seems to have a few anti-charitable bones in him.
You remember Erasmo. He lives in Austin but keeps his hand in the mix in Brownsville through submissions to his Facebook page from local fans of Cheezmeh.
Since his boots aren't on the ground, he has a knack for hurling invective and criticism of local people or groups he deems unworthy from his perch in the center of the state.
We remember when he savaged a teacher at a school function for supposedly mistreating a student only to find out that the boy had been behaving badly and that the teacher (or administrator) had called his attention to that misbehavior.
Before that and his candidacy for mayor and we forget what other offices (unsuccessful as well) he and his siblings squeezed fees from their own fundraisers coat tailing on national charities. When asked for an accounting of the funds raised, the Castros would grow livid and remove you from their list of FB "friends."
Well, he's at it again, Ma!
This time he takes aim at the $5,000 donated by the Brownsville Community Improvement Corporation (BCIC) to assist the Communities In Schools of Cameron County in its annual fundraiser. The theme of this year's CISCC fundraiser is Girls Just Want to Have Fun and features cosmetology and makeover for the ladies (and guys) at $25 per ticket.
The funds raised by the local chapter of this national organization go toward its main goal: to prevent students in Brownsville, Harlingen, Los Fresnos and San Benito as well as the IDEA Academy Charter schools from dropping out of school and to stop the cycle of poverty and ignorance afflicting these communities.
Its board serve on a voluntary basis and CIS takes in donations in cash, clothing and school supplies to assist these at-risk students.
Now, why would Erasmo (or the Head Cheez) have against such a worthy endeavor?
He railed in his June 4 posting on Facebook that "any good deed done with deception or bending of the rule and order is what makes us THE POOREST CITY IN THE NATION...You may be hell-bent on thinking the welfare system is the solution to our economically devastated community, I surely don't. Why are you all so hell-bent in 'helping the poor' with out resources?"
Additionally, Erasmo says that preventing students from dropping out of school is "not a quality of life" event. BCIC twists the description of the request to make it qualify."
Well, now, let's examine that statement. We can see where preventing a kid from dropping out of school affects the quality of his life (and his future) and those of his family directly and immediately. The welfare system will not have to sustain him or her. And who says that all these kids are poor? Dropouts come in all shapes and sizes and economic and social level. Dysfunctional family situations that affect a student's learning don't respect social status. We just happen to be in a region that has historically been economically ravaged.
And if these folks at CIS can prevent one kid from dropping out of school, that affects the quality of life for everyone in the community. The idea for the communities to be in the schools grew out of New York City when Bill Millken, a youth advocate, came up with the idea of bringing community resources inside a public school building – where they are accessible and accountable.
It has now become the nation's leading dropout prevention organization that positions a coordinator inside schools to assess needs and deliver necessary resources that remove barriers to success. CIS has proven to keep students in school and the only one to document that it increases graduation rates and decreases dropout rates. They provide counseling to students, parents, interface with the schools, provide pre-college and career readiness training, and support students academically.
Don't believe it, Erasmo?
Take a gander at what the Communities in Schools Cameron County has accomplished:

1. In 2014-2015, it served 3,556 students.
2. 98 percent of CISCC students stayed in schools
3. 91 percent of CISCC high school seniors graduated.
4. 88 percent of CISCC students improved in academics.
5. 89 percent of CISCC students were promoted to the next grade.
6. 86 percent of CISCC students improved in behavior and 
7. 79 percent of CISCC students improved in behavior.

By improving the future of potential dropouts, don't you also improve the quality of life for them and for the rest of our communities?
For every dollar that CIS spends on this worthy endeavor, it creates a 21.4 cost/ratio, which means that it creates $21.40 in economic benefit that goes to the community.
Erasmo also waxed indignantly that BCIC or CIS not "give me that bullcrap that our city leaders and all these stupid boards and committees give a rat's ass about the weakest in our communities after they were hell, bent on giving away one of our children's parks (Lincoln Park?) to one of the richest entities in the nation (UT System?)...Gossiping is posting suppositions..posting facts may be a hard pill to swallow for sheep, but a dose of reality is what our community needs sister, and I'm here to give it in spades..."
The board members of CISCC work voluntarily and without pay. Among them are San Benito Mayor and educator Celeste Sanchez, local businessman and former Port of Brownsville commissioner Mario Villarreal, Ms. Lynn Black, Judge Art McDonald Jr., and Viridiana Galvan, the board's vice president. It would be difficult to find a more dedicated group of community residents and certainly is composed of individuals who "give a rat's ass" about the weakest in our communities."
They had nothing to do with the city commission trying to give away Lincoln Park. And they certainly aren't fostering a "welfare" mentality by striving to keep these at-risk kids in school and out of the welfare line.
We think that the $5,000 BCIC donated to CIS is peanuts compared to the millions that it has funneled to commissioner Rose Gowen (La Chisquida) and her mania for bicycle and trails. We would hazard to guess that less than 10 percent of the people use those trails simply because they don't own bikes. In this case, the BCIC is doling out the public dollars to a woman with a personal pet project. That certainly would qualify as welfare for the well-to-do. But you're satisfied with that up in Austin, Erasmo?
Maybe you consider it better to be in Gowen's (she wanted to give away Lincoln Park, by the way) good graces than to give a hand up to a needy kid who would drop out of school were it not for the good folks over at CISCC.