The Chron endorses Judith Cruz in the HISD Trustee special election.
Cruz firmly supports the Waiting for Superman brand of school reform: She believes that urban schools can do a much better job of educating our kids than they do now; that every student, regardless of race or family income, should be held to high standards; and that it’s critical to have an effective teacher in every classroom.
We’re particularly impressed by her real-world experience. The daughter of an immigrant, she grew up bilingual — a significant plus for the heavily Hispanic District VIII.
After earning degrees at UT-Austin and George Washington University, she joined Teach for America. Certified in both Special Education and English as a Second Language, she’s worked with some of the hardest-to-reach students that inner-city Washington, D.C., and Houston have to offer.
“I have taught gang members, teen moms and dads, students living in poverty, students who worked full-time, students who were abused, students who experienced discrimination, and students who either lacked previous schooling or whose schooling was interrupted,” Cruz writes on her Web site.
You can listen to my interview with Judith Cruz here, and to my interviews with candidates Juliet Stipeche here and Peter Schwethelm here. Expect this race to go to a runoff, and for the turnout for that runoff to be very, very low.
As of the start of early voting today, the Chron had made recommendations in all of the statewide, countywide, and judicial races, as well as for Props 1 and 3. They still have legislative and Congressional races to go. They could wrap those up pretty quickly if they choose to, as there are only a handful of competitive races. We’ll see how they proceed.
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