Here’s where HD 37 runoff candidates Cortez and Gracia stand on public education

RAYMONDVILLE, Texas – Raise Your Hand Texas, a nonprofit group that supports public education, recently hosted a forum in Raymondville for the candidates running for Texas House District 37.

Four candidates appeared, all Democrats. They were Ruben Cortez, Jonathan Gracia, Carol Lynn Sanchez, and Alex Dominguez. Incumbent state Rep. Janie Lopez, R-San Benito, did not attend. The moderator was education leader George McShan.

Perhaps the most striking part of the one and a half hours of discussion came when Cortez was asked a question about full state funding for Pre-K education. Cortez said the reason it has not happened is due to racism.

Cortez, a former member of the State Board of Education, said: “The majority population of kids in public school today are Latino. They they are Hispanic kids, the majority of our students, and I continue to believe that some of our top leaders try to create this institutional racism that we have to keep our people down and we need to fight against these things. And universal Pre-K would only help in this.”

In the HD 37 primary election, Sanchez came fourth and Dominguez third. Cortez came in first and Gracia second. But none of the candidates secured more than 50 percent of the vote. So, Cortez and Gracia are now in a runoff.

Now that there is a runoff, the Rio Grande Guardian has edited audio from the forum to only include the opening and closing remarks of Cortez and Gracia, plus the questions posed by McShan and the responses of Cortez and Gracia. Here is the audio:

Raise Your Hand Texas says:

“The Texas identity has always been defined by lofty ideals and a never-ending pursuit of greater opportunity and prosperity for our citizens. While American schools have made incremental improvements in student achievement over the last few decades, other countries have experienced exponential gains.

For too long, Texas and the United States have languished in the middle of the rankings. This has very real implications for our students’ individual and collective potential, our state’s business economy, and our global competitiveness.

“Texas’ economic future will be determined by the success of our public schools. For this reason, Texas citizens and the officials they elect should support the public school system and its capacity for progress and reinvention.”

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