By Jim Barton
The Brownsville Observer Blog
Putting it bluntly, while stating the obvious, all newspaper endorsements are not equal.Corpus Christi native, but longtime Brownsville resident Tad Hasse found his campaign for the State Board of Education endorsed by the newspaper with the largest
In endorsing Hasse, the Caller Times cited the City of Brownsville Information Technology specialist's experience as a teacher and scout leader, but also noted that his primaries opponent, Eric Garza, had an association with "a Koch brothers-funded front for pushing public funding of private and charter schools."
(The Caller-Times Endorsement reads: State Board of Education District 2
Democrat: Michelle Arevalo Davila (over Brownsville native Ruben Cortez). The Corpus Christi teacher and Mathis school trustee has a doctorate in bilingual education among her list of degrees. Former board of education member Mary Helen Berlanga endorsed her over the incumbent.
Republican: Charles "Tad" Hasse (over Erik Garza). The Brownsville IT specialist has taught high school math and is a longtime Scout leader. His opponent is a former leader of the LIBRE Initiative, a Koch brothers-funded front for pushing public funding of private and charter schools.")
Young Garza had difficulty writing a basic platform statement for a voters' guide produced by the League of Women Voters. Problems with sentence structure, grammar and conflicting statements rendered Eric's statement almost unreadable.
See if Eric sounds like someone qualified to serve on an education board with his statement below:
"Invest of dollars from the Texas Permanent School Fund should be spent in a responsible manner that holds districts accountable for how they spend their dollars for instruction and not for higher level administrative salaries and costs."
What is an "invest of dollars," Eric? The word invest is, of course, a verb, not a noun as Eric tried to use it in a sentence. This would not be an issue if young Eric wasn't running for a seat on the Board of Education.
Democrat: Michelle Arevalo Davila (over Brownsville native Ruben Cortez). The Corpus Christi teacher and Mathis school trustee has a doctorate in bilingual education among her list of degrees. Former board of education member Mary Helen Berlanga endorsed her over the incumbent.
Republican: Charles "Tad" Hasse (over Erik Garza). The Brownsville IT specialist has taught high school math and is a longtime Scout leader. His opponent is a former leader of the LIBRE Initiative, a Koch brothers-funded front for pushing public funding of private and charter schools.")
Young Garza had difficulty writing a basic platform statement for a voters' guide produced by the League of Women Voters. Problems with sentence structure, grammar and conflicting statements rendered Eric's statement almost unreadable.
See if Eric sounds like someone qualified to serve on an education board with his statement below:
"Invest of dollars from the Texas Permanent School Fund should be spent in a responsible manner that holds districts accountable for how they spend their dollars for instruction and not for higher level administrative salaries and costs."
What is an "invest of dollars," Eric? The word invest is, of course, a verb, not a noun as Eric tried to use it in a sentence. This would not be an issue if young Eric wasn't running for a seat on the Board of Education.