Thanks to all of you
Dear Friends,
Thanks to all of you I won the election for the Harris County Department of Education Board of Trustees At Large Position 5. Over 577,000 of you voted for me and decided to put an experienced professional educator on the board. I’m grateful for your support, your help and your votes. Now the difficult part begins and I promise I won’t let you down. I will do my best to improve services to meet the educational needs of all the residents of Harris County. I will also help our school districts advance and improve public education and be a voice for the voiceless and a help to our neediest. You were there for me and now I promise to be there for you.
Thank you again your support and votes.
Sincerely,
Debby Kerner
Kind words about Debra Kerner, Jim Henley and the HCDE from Charles Kuffner
[The HCDE] is a nonprofit tax-assisted organization dedicated to the equalization of educational opportunity and to the advancement of public schools. HCDE has been serving the county's public schools for 115 years. The organization impacts the educational community through visionary leadership, shared resources and innovative programs.
Basically, they administer federal Department of Education grants for various programs, and they have the power to levy a tiny tax to fund some other services. In short, not very exciting for most people.
"So why is this year unlike other years for the HCDE elections? Two words: Michael Wolfe, whose ongoing clown show has had the HCDE in the news more in the past year than they've likely been in their previous 114 years of existence combined. Wolfe, who could give Orlando Sanchez a run for the title of Least Hardest-Working County Official, managed to get a pair of his cronies elected in the GOP primary for the two seats that are up this year, knocking off a pair of longtime trustees (including HCDE President Ray Garcia) in the process. One of those cronies is Mike Riddle, husband of State Rep. Debbie "Pit of hell" Riddle; obviously, a great fit for an elected office that administers public education funds.
In doing so, Wolfe's gambit changed the nature of these two races. The Democratic candidates - former CD07 candidate Jim Henley, who recently retired after a long career as a champion debate coach at Lamar Middle School; and special education specialist Debby Kerner - are both well qualified for the positions, but in a race against two longtime incumbents, that would have been somewhat of a wash. I would have expected that kind of race to be of less interest, lost amid the other high-profile races and largely determined by Presidential coattails. But against a couple of unqualified, hostile to education Republican hacks who owe their spots on the ballot to Michael Wolfe, that's a different story. All you need is the money to do a couple of compare-the-candidates mail pieces, with a little of Wolfe's greatest hits thrown in, and you've got a compelling case for the Democrats."
