Traci Jensen, Democratic nominee for State Board of Education, District 6, sent the following letter to the Houston Chronicle, Greater Houston Partnership, League of Women Voters – Houston, Texas PTA, and American Association of University Women – Texas. (Traci Jensen is Commentary’s client.)
I am the Democratic nominee for State Board of Education (SBOE), District 6 and I am writing to ask you and League of Women Voters – Houston to facilitate a series of debates over the next five months between myself and my Republican opponent Donna Bahorich. The State Board of Education which oversees the creation of curriculum for Texas public schools is arguably the most important political entity in Texas. However, Texans know very little about the SBOE or its members. Ms. Bahorich and I have major policy and philosophical differences that should be debated throughout SBOE District 6.
As you well know, there are 15 State Board of Education Districts with each representing over 1.6 million people. If SBOE, District 6, were a Texas municipality, we would be the second largest city in the state. Recent news coverage on the SBOE has focused on the size of the district and difficulty in campaigning and representing these huge constituencies. This past April the Texas House of Representatives’ Redistricting Committee held a hearing in Austin to gather testimony on whether the “size of the districts inhibits the ability of board members to provide representation to their constituents.” SBOE District 6 includes parts, most, or some of ten ISDs. Although we fully intend to conduct a voter intensive campaign, we believe a series of debates will go a long way toward educating the voters on this important position.
In 2010, when the State Board of Education dismantled the social studies curriculum, many of our state’s most respected business and civic leadership expressed concern and outrage at the SBOE’s decisions. I believe that it is now all of our responsibility to properly vet the candidates that are running for the SBOE. We propose that a series of debates be held in every ISD represented by District 6 and that the debates begin later this month. We have also asked the American Association of University Women – Texas, Greater Houston Partnership, Houston Chronicle, and the Texas PTA to participate in facilitating the proposed debates.
Civic engagement is a hallmark of an active and vibrant democracy. It is my hope that you and the League of Women Voters – Houston will answer my call and provide the leadership in the exercise of civic engagement that will better serve the community.
The letter speaks for itself. Stay tuned!
The ‘Stros’ numero uno draft pick, Carlos Correa of Puerto Rico, has prompted the Chron sports section to run a story on baseball in Puerto Rico.
Check it out here.
The story mentions the three Puerto Ricans in the MLB Hall of Fame: the late Roberto Clemente, Orlando Cepeda, and Roberto Alomar. Of the three, name the one that never won an MVP Award?
When you gotta go, you gotta go and when you gotta hate, you gotta hate. I’m talking about the haters that went after Pizza Patron for their free pizza promotion. For three hours yesterday they handed out free pizzas to folks that came in and said “pizza, por favor,” and of course the haters said this was very un-American. Oh, brother!
Rachel Barrios-Van Os keeps sending me emails telling me what she is going to do if she becomes the next Chair of the Lone Star State Dem Party. Her opponent keeps sending me emails letting me know who is supporting him. I want to know what they think about what happened last night in Wisconsin.
Pirates great Roberto Clemente won the NL MVP Award in 1966, Orlando Cepeda won the NL MVP Award in 1967 with San Luis, and Roberto Alomar of course never won an MVP Award.
Thanks to Brian Bogusevic’s fourth inning dinger off the right field fair pole, lunch is on Chick-fil-A today. We held on to a win last night and that is all that matters.
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