EL RRUN RRUN
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CORTEZ LEGACY ONE OF KEEPING POLITICS IN CLASSROOM AS BISD TRUSTEE
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<div style="font-style: normal; ">By <strong>Juan Montoya<br /></strong>How things change when people decide to run for office and forget what kind of trail they have left behind them.<br />Such is the case with former Brownsville Independent School District trustee Ruben Cortez, the ultimate political animal is there ever was one. He is now, of all things, running for a spot on the Texas State Board of Education.<br />His slogan of "Keeping politics out of the classroom," is an insult to anyone's intelligence. This is why.<br />Cortez, who was decisively beaten by Ernique Escobedo in the 201- BISD elections after the electorate decided they had had enough of him and his fellows on the board's majority as they quickly set about to reverse the gains that this suffering border district's teachers and students had sacrificed so hard to attain.<br />Long known as an underperforming district, under Superintendent Hector Gonzales, the BISD went on to win the coveted Broad Award which recognized its improvements over other competitors in the entire United States. The $1 million Broad Prize (increased to $2 million in student scholarships in the BISD's case), was established in 2002 and is the large<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgLVf9cZR_MUgHDCTKRtdqkcBR3WKpN7K1_b3KnJbx0oYaIDvi-kfh6vq9vMYB8QW2IjhkWdUMJ73fWuRUPbIeA3ZN-VZm2JWKOzPbmz18_QcCzICDD3rKkyutVyeGBE2OwYn8k6NZqmoA/s1600/cortez.jpg"></a>st education award in the country given to school districts. The Broad Prize is awarded each year to honor urban school districts that demonstrate the greatest <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiu5viM2qSmR9VR1KeWEk9nf0MtapilTGlyL7BYeExdJAGtDkYMYLrxrLzvBMzZQc7S5eTltDZLEQlxH0DVauL9MgulH7XO1xqOQ6gQZrzhLHGHT-KGCLRKB0Od8SaS3ADEuys_Jj0lOD0/s1600/cortez.jpg"></a>overall performance and improvement in student achievement while reducing achievement gaps among low-income and minority students.</div><div style="font-style: normal; ">Then the majority set about a construction binge that plunged the districts $128 million reserves into only $68 million which was used to offset the consecutive budget deficits that resulted from their excesses. In one short year, Cortez and his buddies on the board literally took the district from "Broad to Broke."</div><div style="font-style: normal; ">Shortly thereafter, the Council of Urban Boards of Education Annual Award was <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgfCi_0T5pWO67tNjp6UKZQ7V3ej4rgr70KF3iLK3JhqL-RbbcDVGaaK2puUKEtJJuOb4VbqbrtAWM5-0l21S2AlMGCSmFrvmH4w5aBh16ETxH04ENSdiQwXorCkpF0au7PIIrc9PyKXy4/s1600/cortez.jpg"><img style="MARGIN: 0px 0px 10px 10px; WIDTH: 189px; FLOAT: right; HEIGHT: 220px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5737654302292884018" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgfCi_0T5pWO67tNjp6UKZQ7V3ej4rgr70KF3iLK3JhqL-RbbcDVGaaK2puUKEtJJuOb4VbqbrtAWM5-0l21S2AlMGCSmFrvmH4w5aBh16ETxH04ENSdiQwXorCkpF0au7PIIrc9PyKXy4/s320/cortez.jpg" /></a>given to the BISD for the board and administration's performance in raising the district's level of instruction. It ain't nothing to sneeze at.<br />CUBE represents more than 100 urban school districts in 35 states and the Virgin Islands. Our member districts educate more than 7.5 million students, in over 12,000 schools, with a collective budget of approximately $99 billion.<br />The judges of the CUBE look at a district's superintendent and the board as an example of a good working relationship. This does not imply a utopian working environment â€" but rather that the focus is on student achievement gains in the district, and not the personalities involved.The national panel of judges â€" with figures hsowing the BISD's improvements â€" chose the district above all others. The BISD was the shining mansion on the hill.<br />All that changed two months later when Cortez and the new board majority decided they wanted to change a couple of things they saw wrong in the district. As the holder of only a high school diploma, he didn't flinch when his new majority decided they didn't want that superintendent (who held a PhD) around anymore because he wasn't making the "right" decisions " on a number of issues.<br />So they fired him.<br />And when the Chief financial Officer recommended that the district award the BISD's lucrative Stop-Loss insurance contract to a company that was not the choice of the majority (Cortez, Rick Zayas, Joe Colunga, Rolando Aguilar), they accused him of misinforming the board and gave the superintendent an ultimatum to either fire the CFO or face firing himself.<br />Using a byzantine system of having some employees file grievances against others to give the majority the justification to terminate them, they are accused in at least one ongoing federal lawsuit and another in state court of conspiracy to manipulate the administrative and political process to get their way.<br />So out went the CFO as well.<br />But, before they could give him the ax, the CFO had gone to the FBI and the U.S Attorney with his sordid tale of a conspiracy among the board and some district employees to rig the bids and of retaliation complete with tape recordings and affidavits from some of the participants to prove it.<br />As of today, Cortez and the members of the majority at the time have been denied qualified immunity from the charges of bid-rigging and retaliation in the federal lawsuit.<br />Rather than fight a losing battle with the former head of the Special Needs Department in another federal lawsuit in federal court who had also become a target of the Cortez majority, the district decided to cut its losses and settle his lawsuit. That administrator is now back with the district.<br />The details in those lawsuits give lie to the claims by the now forgetful Cortez, that his tenure on the BISD board was marked by blatant political favoritism and retaliation against those that stood in his way. It didn't matter that the long-suffering BISD district would end up getting blemished as a result of his actions. To him, it was just collateral damage on his way to higher office.</div><div><i>(We have just learned that Cortez pushed and elbowed his way to a seat on the congressional candidates forum in Hidalgo County until supporters of Celeste Zarate Sanchez questioned why he should be given soapbox when it was limited to congressional candidates. We understand that he has vowed to do the same in the congressional forum to be held in Cameron County today. Sanchez's supporters have promised to prevent him crashing the congressional party at all costs.) </i></div><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/6016803033174468094-4276379192028419604?l=rrunrrun.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>
LINK: http://rrunrrun.blogspot.com/2012/05/cortez-legacy-one-of-keeping-politics.html
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BRADSHAW SUPPORTERS IN DENIAL OF COLD HARD NUMBERS
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<div>By <strong>Juan Montoya</strong></div><br /><div><em></em></div><br /><div><em>"You really do just write what anyone tells you, Juanito. $60,000 grand was from her, her hubby and her kids. That's not raising money.</em> "</div><br /><div>Self-righteous (and lying) Bradshaw supporter after last <em>Rrun-Rrun</em> post on Distr. 34 GOP candidates</div><br /><br /><div></div><br /><div>No one can argue that the supporters of hyphenated Hispanic Jessica Puente Bradshaw are not energetic about coming to their candidate's defense.</div><br /><div>They virtually went ballistic after we posted claims by one of her opponents â€" Texas Southmost College trustee and field supervisor for U.S. Rep. Blake Farenthold Adela Garza â€" that raising money to fight against the eventual well-funded Democratic nominee was going to be a necessary attribute for the November general elections.</div><br /><div>The line in Garza's a<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjaKFIZsJl0J23wWUPEl22u2n7uxGWXzxyrQDqBPdepUz0_dZeVNvJhAWuSCbJB2d-xFJvEBTieYm2ungMaqEVEzzJGhw6LrUklcRLGukd-xYklVw31tcU6aHst3gO4Tr0VVa2L2WNqdLk/s1600/adela.jpg"><img style="MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 320px; FLOAT: left; HEIGHT: 240px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5737634646943272770" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjaKFIZsJl0J23wWUPEl22u2n7uxGWXzxyrQDqBPdepUz0_dZeVNvJhAWuSCbJB2d-xFJvEBTieYm2ungMaqEVEzzJGhw6LrUklcRLGukd-xYklVw31tcU6aHst3gO4Tr0VVa2L2WNqdLk/s320/adela.jpg" /></a>d that appeared in a Beeville newspaper was that in a late-filed report (as usual) Bradshaw has raised "$1,480 in donations and given herself a $8,500 loan."</div><br /><div>No one disputed that it was true. But that's not what rankled. What they lashed at was the fact that whether by personal loans or by contributions, during this election cycle, Garza has far outraised Bradshaw in contributions from individuals. That she has also used her personal money to run the race would seem to indicate a commitment from that candidate that she is serious about facing the Democrats in November.</div><br /><div>Now, we have been called everything from "convicted drunk" to "idiot," "moron," etc. Please understand that the writers of this blog are not running for anything. If we stopped to examine all of our human foibles, I seriously doubt that it would lead to anything constructive. As far as being a good conservative Republican with the principles and values that the party espouses, I seriously doubt that being unemployed, having a wife support the family while someone is out politicking for a candidate without money would be much of an endorsement or would endear you to the average GOP faithful.</div><br /><div>We prefer to be called moderate Democrats. Without us neither Farenthold, Tony Garza or Carlos Cascos would have been elected. And we've never been exposed to this vituperation from the supposedly civil and gentile GOP. The times, we guess, are a' changing.</div><br /><div>Be that as it may, let's take a look at the claim that $60,000" of the $70,000 raised was from Garza and her family.</div><br /><div>In fact, the Garzas have put personal money in the race to the tune of $42,000, which for a congressional race is nothing but earnest money.</div><br /><div>Compared to the "$1,480 in donations and given herself a $8,500 loan" that Bradshaw has reported, it really is not even in the same ballpark. Granted, we did err in saying she listed herself as a "Realtor" in her campaign literature. We mistook it for her report in the 2010 race where she came in dead last among four unknown candidates and was stuck with a $27,000 debt (all, by the way, loans to herself.)</div><br /><div>Let's ask ourselves: "If no one thinks enough of her candidacy to put their money where their mouth is, how credible a candidate is she anyway?"</div><br /><div>More than $30,000 in the latest contributor report from Garza came from at least 25<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_bK8beZEJdaFhBaOTStp3YATDjAW16OQ1tCR-gGPvuLpfexELzbNsyRMzKlq4V73YH52uDubQlj_RUCPF6Q5NyoM_gBuSTaoRmcowg9eTInnpWccMgfljwRbyr3gqKWNTTX-raCg5oL0/s1600/jess.jpg"><img style="MARGIN: 0px 0px 10px 10px; WIDTH: 214px; FLOAT: right; HEIGHT: 320px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5737633941778747202" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_bK8beZEJdaFhBaOTStp3YATDjAW16OQ1tCR-gGPvuLpfexELzbNsyRMzKlq4V73YH52uDubQlj_RUCPF6Q5NyoM_gBuSTaoRmcowg9eTInnpWccMgfljwRbyr3gqKWNTTX-raCg5oL0/s320/jess.jpg" /></a> donors listed in her timely-filed report. In fact, the Federal Elections Commission's latest listings do not even show Bradshaw's late report.</div><br /><div>Below are the contributors and the amounts in Garza's report. Look carefully. It is basically a list of the GOP Who's Who across South Texas.</div><br /><div>Jose Acedeo - Brownsville - $1,000</div><br /><div>Robert Benz - Bayview - $250</div><br /><div>Frank Boggus - Harlingen - 500</div><br /><div>Doak Dunkin - Harlingen - $478</div><br /><div>Richard Ellis - Brownsville - $325</div><br /><div>Robert Ferris - Harlingen - $500</div><br /><div>James Foster - SPI - $500</div><br /><div>Everardo Garcia - Brownsville - $500</div><br /><div>Paloma Garza - Brownsville - $500</div><br /><div>Rene Garza - Austin - $2,500</div><br /><div>Bill Hudson -Brownsville - $2,437</div><br /><div>Georgina Matz - Harlingen - $500</div><br /><div>John Mayers - Laredo - $2,500</div><br /><div>T. Juan Mendez - Brownville - $1,500</div><br /><div>Ed. C. Mishou Jr. - Brownsville - $1,000</div><br /><div>Frank & Brenda Perez - Brownsville - $1,000</div><br /><div>Tara Rios - Brownsville - $2,000</div><br /><div>Ed Rivera - Laguna Vista - $500</div><br /><div>D. Rodriguez - Donna - $1,500</div><br /><div>M. Schwaz - Mission - $2,000</div><br /><div>Robert Shepard - Harlingen - $1,000</div><br /><div>Dan Stanton - SPI - $250</div><br /><div>David and Laurie Swissa - SPI - $250</div><br /><div>Hisako Tachibana - Rancho Viejo - $300</div><br /><div>Bert Whisenant - Brownsville - $250</div><br /><br /><div></div><br /><div>To our reading, that's almost $30,000 in contributions from individuals who believe in Garza's candidacy compared to $1,480 in individual contributions made to Bradshaw. Are her supporters in denial, or merely fans of a new illusory math that makes one believe that derision and ridicule of the messenger will make up for lack of popular support for their candidate? </div><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/6016803033174468094-1770223238238867201?l=rrunrrun.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>
LINK: http://rrunrrun.blogspot.com/2012/05/so-who.html
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