East Texas rancher campaigning on education reform

McALLEN — Hank Gilbert, an East Texas rancher and former school teacher, says Gov. Rick Perry can’t run his re-election campaign on the back of education reform.

Since Perry assumed office in 2000, he has failed to deliver on promises of education reform, said Gilbert, who announced this week is running for governor as a Democrat. The state has languished near the bottom of education rankings, including being the 41st-worst in the nation when it comes to high school graduation rate.

“What Rick Perry has done is widen that gap,” Gilbert said. “What we have now is a broken system.”

Gilbert, who was in McAllen on Tuesday as part of a 13-city campaign tour, said the state needs common-sense solutions to its education woes.

He rolled out what he said will be a cornerstone of his campaign, an education reform package that creates a universal pre-kindergarten program, expands vocational training for high school students and uses a mentor program and online tutoring service to lower the state’s high school dropout rate.

He proposes recruiting and retaining qualified teachers through an across-the-board pay raise of $5,000 per teacher and a plan to remove the cap that bars raises for teachers once they reach 20 years’ experience.

Gilbert doesn’t plan to release details on how to fund his reform plan until November.

He joins a crowded Democratic field that includes former U.S. ambassador Tom Schieffer, humorist Kinky Friedman and therapist Mark Thompson.

Perry and U.S. Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison are battling one another for the Republican nod.

In 2006, Gilbert received more votes than any other Democratic candidate when he lost to Todd Staples in a three-way race for Texas agriculture commissioner.

Since then, the gubernatorial hopeful has traveled the state to speak out against the Trans-Texas Corridor — an ambitious but ultimately abandoned plan to build a major highway and rail network as a single massive project — as well as speaking out about other issues relating to eminent domain.

Despite joining the race for governor at a time when supporters for other candidates are already firmly entrenched, Gilbert said he believes he offers a better choice than the others.

“(Texans) are tired of kicking the same old can down the street,” he said. “They want somebody who is willing to pick up the can and offer common-sense ideas to fix the system.”

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Jared Janes covers Hidalgo County government, Edinburg and general assignments for The Monitor. He can be reached at (956) 683-4424.