Area's seat on state education board up for grabs

Name: Mary Helen Berlanga

Age: 60

Occupation: lawyer, Bonilla and Chapa PC

Family: married, four children, two grandchildren

Education: bachelor’s degree from University of Houston and law degree from South Texas College of Law

Name: Lupe Gonzalez

Age: 64

Occupation: president, Gonzalez and Associates Educational Consulting Co.

Family: married, one child

Education: bachelor’s and master’s degrees in mathematics from Pan American University (now University of Texas-Pan American), certification for superintendent, certifications for mathematics, English, secondary school supervision and management.

MISSION — The race for the Democratic nomination for the Texas State Board of Education’s District 2 seat hasn’t been this region’s most attention-getting contest this election cycle, but that hasn’t deterred the candidates.

Former Mission school district superintendent Lupe Gonzalez is seeking to unseat longtime incumbent Mary Helen Berlanga, a lawyer from Corpus Christi.

Texas’ primary is Tuesday.

The 15-member Board of Education sets the policies that govern educational programs and services offered by the state’s public schools, according to the Texas Education Agency. District 2 encompasses parts of Hidalgo County, as well as the counties of Cameron and Willacy and other counties along the Gulf Coast stretching northward to near Houston.

Gonzalez would like to improve communication between the board and local school districts, as it seems there has been little if any of that during the three decades he has worked in education, he said

“In talking with all the superintendents in the (Rio Grande) Valley, most have heard of (Berlanga’s) name but never met her. That tells me, if anything, the lines of communication are closed,” he said.

Berlanga denied Gonzalez’s claim, saying she has made several trips to school districts throughout the Valley and to the Region One Educational Service Center during her tenure.

Region One is part of a statewide system of 20 centers that help school districts improve student performance, operate efficiently and effectively, and carry out the mandates of the Texas Education Agency and the Texas Legislature. It serves 37 school districts and 24 charter school campuses in a seven-county area that includes Cameron and Hidalgo counties.

The state does not allow the Board of Education to interfere with how local school districts operate, Berlanga said, so her visits to schools and district offices throughout South Texas can only be to observe what programs they have implemented.

Gonzalez, who now runs an educational consulting firm, said his experience as a teacher, principal and superintendent would benefit to the board.

Addressing teacher salaries and funding for schools would be among his top priorities if elected, he said. He added that he would urge the Legislature to consider setting up an independent commission to explore the best way to distribute funding for all school districts.

Berlanga was first elected to the board in 1982.

She said she decided to run then because she had children about to start school and wanted to do more to help public education.

Berlanga said she is concerned about the future of the state’s education system, which she said is threatened by conservatives who want to take students back at least 50 years with curriculum changes the board is considering that could affect English, reading and science.

She’s also worried her opponent’s views on the science curriculum would help the conservative members on the board get their way.

“What is unique (about my opponent) is he’s running as a Democrat but his ideas are Republican,” she said.

Berlanga brought up a recent candidate forum by the Victoria League of Women Voters where she and Gonzalez discussed their views on education. One issue that came up was whether they felt intelligent design or evolution should be taught in schools.

Gonzalez said he told the panel he supported having both intelligent design and evolution taught. Berlanga, however, said she has received numerous requests from religious leaders asking that the state leave teaching religious beliefs such as creation to them.

____

Jennifer L. Berghom covers education and general assignments for The Monitor. She can be reached at (956) 683-4462.