Judith Cruz
As we’ve discussed, there are still HISD Trustee elections this year, despite the uncertainty surrounding the TEA takeover. While the Board may not have much authority during the time that the TEA-appointed board of managers is in charge, it still matters who the elected Trustees are, because the governance by the elected Board has been part of the problem. With that in mind, one way to move the HISD Board in the right direction would be to replace the scandal-plagued Diana Davila with Judith Cruz in District VIII. Cruz is a Teach for America alum who has taught at Lee High School (now Wisdom) in HISD, and subsequently was part of the team that created and started Liberty High School in Gulfton, where she was a founding teacher. She served on multiple HISD committees, including HISD’s Superintendent’s Parent Advisory Committee and her neighborhood school’s SDMC (Shared-Decision Making Committee). And despite my repeated flubs in the interview, she is running in District VIII, not District II. Here’s what we talked about:
As always, refer to the Erik Manning spreadsheet for all your candidate info needs.
What exactly had Diana Davila done that has been substantiated? Let me repeat, parroting the Chronicle which is infected by lazy ignorant reporters does not lead one to facts.
Even the lead up to Judith Cruz is full of errors, what did Judith Cruz do to help create Liberty High School? The person who deserves credit is “Manny” not this Manny rather Manny Rodriguez former HISD Board Trustee. He worked with the Mexican Consulate and was instrumental in creation the school. https://www.chron.com/houston/article/Houston-ISD-Trustee-Manny-Rodriguez-dies-11299894.php
Last time Cruz ran she was quoted in your interview that hungry children were okay after all they were not starving.
Cruz is also a supporter of Charter Schools, wonder who appointed her to HISD committees? Who is she beholding to, besides Teach For America?
Manny, give it up. In my opinion, Diana Davila is a worthless individual who cares nothing for the kids that HISD educates. I believe she is ethically challenged, and tends to operate for the benefit of her and her friends and family. Her behavior during the Saveedra debacle was disgusting, and she deserves to go to prison for that. She is a racist who can’t stand Blacks, and her inability to get along with the Black Trustees has been a major component of the discord on the HISD board. We would all be better off if she crawled back into whatever hole she came out of. I don’t trust her at all.
I don’t know anything about Cruz, but she can’t be any worse than Davila.
If you think I am wrong, provide evidence that she has done good, because I sure haven’t seen it, and I’ve been watching HISD closely for the last 10 years while my kid is in school.
Well I know her, and I believe you used a four letter word to describe me last time, starts with F and ends with K.
If you have any proof take it to the DA.
She brought the Leonel Castillo campus to the district she represents.
Austin High School will have a clinic run by Baylor, thanks to her, the administration was not willing to provide the money, even though they had the done same for Worthing HS. She fought for that get that clinic there that will benefit the entire community.
She fights for the district she represents and the parents and many of the teachers who work in that district appreciate what she does.
I understand that white people for some reason think that they are the only ones that know what is best for communities of people that look like her or me, whether they are liberals or conservatives.
Amazing that you are concerned about the Black Trustees where was your concern when Larry Marshall was around? How about Chris Oliver, it seems you only have hate for dislike for people with Spanish surnames and are dark in color.
You have yet to say what she did that upsets you so much, if you know and have proof that she has engaged in something illegal go to the DA or the FBI, I have done that in the past.
I have been harassed by Cruz admirers because she appointed me to one committee. I took vacation time to attend those meetings, there was no possibility for me to gain monetarily from being in that committee. Yet someone like Cruz gets appointed to committees and it for her to help the community. I was also appointed to one committee where to select an HISD Superintendent, but it was not her, so that was okay.
I would suggest that you and all those other people that believe every word the Chronicle publishes wait until the lawsuit that HISD has filed against TEA concludes. Don’t be surprised that TEA engaged in lies and deception.
By the way where were you when four white trustees did the same thing with the appointment of Rod Paige? Oh, they be white people and they know what is good for us people of color.
Have you even bothered to see how many schools in the district she represent are under performing based on TEA criteria. Take a guess and then go look, so she must be doing something right. She is not there to be loved by people like you, she is there to improve the education of the children of the people she represents.
https://abc13.com/education/21-hisd-schools-receive-f-from-texas-education-agency/5469638/
So white do you hate brown skinned folks Ross?
So “Why” do you hate people that look like her and me Ross?
I don’t hate people who look like you or Davila, Manny. I’m married to one. You know that.
I wasn’t paying much attention when Paige and Marshall were around, as I didn’t have a child in an HISD school, and was travelling extensively for work or living out of the country. I pay a lot more attention now, since I have a child in HISD.
Then look at her district, she fights for her district and the people she represents. I know that neither you or anyone has proof that she unethical and she enriches her friends. If you knew anything about how school districts operate you would know that it is the administration that doles out the contracts. It is administration that determines who will be promoted. HISD board does not even have much say as to what will be on the agenda, they gave up that power years ago. If HISD is screwing you around then be mad at the administration. If you want more money for a magnet school tell me what low income school do you want to take that money away from. I did have two sons that went to magnet schools, but I took them to school and picked them. I did not rely on HISD school buses, because it was my decision that they attend a school they were not zoned to. Why should someone pick up the transportation tab for something I decided.
Ross, I spoke to her earlier today, she told me that Kuffner has never asked her to interview. Maybe Kuffner if he can be fair and balanced, not like Fox, could invite her. I have no idea if she would interview, but he at least should give her the same courtesy that he extended to Cruz.