School election slam against Perez misses the mark

PSJA ISD Board Candidate Victor Perez, Place 7, is running against the seat’s incumbent, Cynthia Gutierrez, but one slam made against him — he took money to support school vouchers when he ran for the State Board of Education in 2022 — simply isn’t true, he said.

No one is making that direct claim, but Perez did take money from some Charter School PACs (political action committees) that supported his run for the state board two years ago, which he lost by a hair to his Republican opponent: 50.2 percent vs. 49.8 percent.

If one is not careful, however, it’s easy to conflate the two — school vouchers and charter schools — and pretty soon, it’s relatively easy to say that Perez is also supporting school vouchers, which isn’t the case.

Confused?

You’re not alone.

Previously, Perez served eight years on the PSJA board from 2012 to 2020, before being unseated by his former political ally, the late “Jesse” Vela, who actually switched seats to run against Perez in ‘20, leaving his seat open, which Gutierrez won, approximately 60 to 40 percent.

Now the two, Perez and Gutierrez, are going head to-head to win Place 7, but this time, Gutierrez is without the Zambrano brothers by her side, with whom she ran on a slate in 2020 along with Vela.

This election for Place 7 is unique, too, because it’s the first time that a San Juan resident (Gutierrez) has occupied a seat traditionally reserved for an Alamo resident.

The deal isn’t set in stone, but over the years, a gentleman’s agreement was in place (AKA, non-binding) that said of the seven PSJA board seats, Pharr would get three, since it had the largest population; San Juan, two; and Alamo, two.

In one or two elections, someone tried to break the tradition but failed. Gutierrez was the first to do so.

For the San Juan and Alamo seats, ironically, or logically, pick one, the local votes didn’t really count, aside from the pride associated with winning the home-town vote, since it was the Pharr vote that usually determined the winner.

In fact, over the course of at least several elections, the Alamo winner, if you will, actually lost the Alamo vote.

Off topic, perhaps, but what became confusing about this race was the notion that Victor Perez is a supporter of the governor’s beloved school voucher program.

If there is anything for which Abbott has fought hard, chopped off heads of disloyal Republicans in the House and Senate who had gone against him, it would be the issue of school vouchers.

Charter School Money

So, the deal against Perez goes like this:

Campaign finance reports showed that he took money in 2022 from some big Charter School PACs (political action committees), Legacy 44 and Charter Schools Now, worth approximately $123,000 total.

Then somehow or another, “school vouchers” gets thrown into the mix, and you’re thinking, wow, Perez actually took money from big-money proponents of school vouchers? Big pro-voucher PACs?

No, it was the Charter School PACs from whom he took money.

Actually, to be perfectly correct, Perez never even handled the money.

“You are going to accept what people donate, right?” Perez said. “In other words, (these PACs) pay for the advertising, which is inkind, I never touch the money, it never goes into my bank account, and my campaign is not going to turn it down. They were giving to a third party. Then they called me and said, ‘Look, you know, these people, these people want to support you.’

In the end, said Perez, he found out that the PACs were also supporting his opponent.

“Then I find out they were supposed to fill out a report (campaign donations), and didn’t, so I had to do it.”

Which has been another election slam, of sorts, against him — he failed to fill out his last campaign finance reports accurately.

When it comes to charter schools, said Perez, for a statewide position like the one he was running for — State Board of Education, District 2 — anyone elected is sworn to serve all the students, no matter if they attend a traditional public school district or a charter school.

Where he draws a line, however, is when it comes to school vouchers, which most Republicans support, and most Democrats oppose.

Oppose School Vouchers

The fact that the state legislature will approve the voucher program next session, which begins in January, is already a slam dunk in the minds of many. The few Republicans, mainly rural, who opposed the governor’s school voucher program last session, are no longer in office. Most, if not all, drew opponents (Abbott clones) this past Republican primary and lost.

There are some educators in the public school system who don’t foresee a financial catastrophe if (when) the voucher program is approved next session. They see most parents staying loyal to the public, charter schools they now attend.

Other people swing the other way — if the school voucher program is approved, many public school districts will lose a lot of money, which they’re in no position to lose.

Perez said he is a product of PSJA, and that it’s not true if people say he supports school vouchers.

“I don’t support them. We have to keep funding our public schools. You know, that's who we have our kids with. Public schools, especially PSJA ISD, is something I’m always going to support.”