HCDE Finalists Chosen

UPDATE:  The list of finalists below or in the linked image are NOT in any particular order. 

In case you hadn’t heard through Kuff, our good friend Jim Henley resigned from the Harris County Department of Education Board of Trustees recently. The process to fill the vacancy began recently, and today, six finalists were chosen to be interviewed by the board.

• Dr. Davetta Daniels – Local educator, recent candidate for HISD Board.
• Sue Deigaard – Local education activist
• Louis Evans – UH-Downtown administrator and recent member of the HCDE Board who did not seek re-election.
• Dr. Rey Guerra – FODC (Friend of Dos Centavos), Engineer, Community Activist, and the only Latino on the list.
• Dr. Traci Jensen – Educator, recent candidate for Texas Board of Education.
• Mubeen Khumawala – According to LinkedIn, he works with Deloitte after having worked with in the charter school industry.

I have worked with Dr. Rey Guerra for a few years on various community projects, including Latinos. Engaged. United. Voting., the highly successful Tacos and Votes, the Harris County redistricting hearings to ensure Latino representation on the Harris County Commissioner’s court. Recently, Dr. Guerra hosted a Science Extravaganza at a Heights Middle School in which he and a team of volunteers brought students and professionals in STEM fields together, while also conducting a town hall discussion with the students’ parents.

The current HCDE Board lacks Latin@ representation. In a county with a fast-growing Latino population one must ask why this is so. Given the opportunity, and given a highly qualified individual such as Dr. Guerra, the opportunity is readily available to add some diversity to the panel. Above all, Dr. Guerra strongly supports the work of HCDE and was among the first to volunteer to join the effort to ensure a legislative threat to do away with the district was thwarted. Although the effort may be defeated this year, HCDE needs representatives who are willing to advocate strongly, while keeping the community informed of the district’s efforts.

Best of luck to the applicants; however, I strongly support the appointment of Dr. Rey Guerra.