Soto denounces SBOE's government-subsidized real estate scheme

For Immediate Release
Contact: Michael Soto (cell: 210-685-8378)

San Antonio, Texas - June 23, 2010

Statement by Michael Soto, Democratic Party nominee for the State Board of Education in District 3:

I strongly disagree with today's decision by the State Board of Education to spend valuable public school resources for a government-subsidized real estate scheme that may or may not benefit Texas charter school students.

The scheme is ill-conceived and contradicts the best advice of investment professionals, state legislators, legal experts, and education policy researchers. There is a strong possibility that this real estate scheme falls short of the Texas Constitutional requirement that Permanent School Fund investments prudently balance risk and reward. It certainly defies free-market principles.

Permanent School Fund oversight is one of the SBOE's most important duties. Allocating public school funds in this reckless way shortchanges Texas taxpayers and Texas children.

After attending public schools in Brownsville ISD throughout his childhood, Soto received a B.A. degree from Stanford University and a Ph.D. degree from Harvard University. He is presently associate professor of English and director of the McNair Scholars Program at Trinity University. He lives in San Antonio with his wife Celina Peña and their sons Alejo (a second-grade student in the San Antonio ISD) and newborn Américo.

The counties in SBOE District 3 are Atascosa, Bee, Bexar, Brooks, Duval, Frio, Hidalgo, Jim Wells, Karnes, Live Oak, McMullen, Medina, and Wilson.

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