Sources close to Mike Hernandez, the founder and main mover behind the OP 10.33 movement, say that as a result of the negative reception to his drive to improve the vocational offerings of the local workforce offered by Texas Southmost College, he will fund a $100,000 scholarship fund for Brownsville students at Harligen's Texas State Technical College.
That first $100,000 will be matched by a private charitable foundation, they say.
"Eventually, Hernandez hopes that a permanent $200,000 scholarship fund will be available to
Brownsville students who choose to attend TSTC," they said.
State Rep. Eddie Lucio III, a close Hernandez ally, told the local daily that the study will determine what workforce development resources exist that can be coordinated to attract 21st century manufacturers. It will also determine whether the Valley has sufficient facilities for such a program or if a new facility is required.
“We’re seeking support for a local match that we need to draw down a much larger match from the (Economic Development Administration) at the federal level,” he said.
Lucio pointed to Hernandez and OP 10.33, as potential source of the funding needed for the completion of the study.
“He’s a facilitator,” Lucio said. “He’s offered to be a safety net if we cannot find a way to fund a study. He said, ‘Exhaust all means to get funding for a study. If you can’t I will help you.’”
Hernandez graduated from Texas A&M University and has said that workforce training and economic development are the foundation for progress.
The OP 10.33 plan is to eradicate poverty through workforce training by October 2033, or about 20 years from now.
“That feasibility study will answer the question about whether we need a facility or not, or if we have enough facilities and we just need to spread this out over multiple locations,” Hernandez told the local daily. “That’s the analysis they’re doing.”
Toward that end, OP 10.33 has agreed to make available a building at 3140 Ruben M. Torres Blvd. to be used as a workforce training facility by the Cameron County Education Initiative, the newspaper article stated.
The building will be used to house CCEI’s education and workforce training initiative.
CCEI will launch no-cost GED test preparation and adult literacy programs, with the first class starting in November. The group also plans to commence allied health, information technology and manufacturing programs by January 2017.
Pat Hobbs, the executive director of Cameron County's Workforce Solutions told the Brownsville Herald that organization is collaborating with TSC as it redefines itself following the dissolution of the "partnership" with the University of Texas at Brownsville, now UTRGV.
"We’re trying to work very closely with (Texas Southmost College), because I think that they’re one of the community’s greatest assets, that is essentially a startup again to some degree.
“TSC is having to redefine itself and reinvent itself. We’re working very closely with them to determine what vision in the short and long term is needed, and learn what other community colleges are doing.”
During that "partnership," the mission of the community college was blurred by the push toward an academically-oriented four-year institution that gave vocational training short shrift. As a result, under then-president Julieta Garcia and then under former TSC president Lily Tercero, the nursing program was placed on a conditional status because of its abysmal passing rate of the state's NCLEX® exam . Sources closed to the board say that the recent testing of the last class of students did not reach the 80 percent pass rate as required by the State Board of Nursing as a condition for its continued existence.
"It looks like the state is not going to approve the continued conditional status of the program," sources said.
OP 10.33 supporters said that Hernandez did not intend to be in competition with TSC or its board, but that the immediate need for vocational-technical training for Brownsville students is needed immediately and he is hoping that by providing the scholarship funding, they will have a viable option to further their studies and receive the training.
When OP 10.33 first came into the picture, some board members and candidates for the board perceived that Hernandez and his group had targeted them and supported their opponents. Hernandez has long denied that they
"He would like to work with TSC in Brownsville because that's where he's from," said the source. "Hopefully they will both agree to meet at some middle ground for the benefit of the local students, which is what both of them are about."
5 comments:
If industrial hemp would be legalized, this area would have an economic boom the likes of which have never been seen in this area.
Good luck mike. The people in Harlingen are harder to scam than the gullible people in browntown.
TSTC has some great programs and is well ahead of TSC in vocational training for our young. Eddie Lucio is likely pushing this too because Harlingen is becoming more important politically than Brownsville. Lots of progress in Harlingen and we continue to swirl down the toilet under the administration of Tony Martinez.
At what cost, what will he want for return?
Those people are a joke. From this dude parachuting in, expecting insta-control of every board, to his clueless La Raza friends who rudely squander every local source of goodwill in their first year. You'd think monkeys were at the controls. Even cheezmeh in its early years effective, before they invited the hernandez in. Op 10.33 is just a clown show.
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