Manuel Núñez believes his record as a Fresno Unified School District trustee speaks for itself: Students have higher test scores, the district has a healthy reserve in the bank, and teachers haven't been laid off.
But three challengers for Núñez's school board seat say he's too close to Superintendent Michael Hanson to make independent decisions.
"Unlike my opponent, I won't be a rubber stamp," said challenger Larry Moore, a Fresno High School teacher and past president of the Fresno Teachers Association.
On Nov. 4, voters will determine whether to re-elect Núñez, a staple on the school board since 1990, or replace him with Moore, community activist Paul Garcia, or parent and school volunteer Esmeralda Diaz.
The job pays $1,500 a month plus benefits. The school board's duties include setting policies and approving the curriculum for the district's 76,460 students -- most of whom live in poverty. The trustee seat up for grabs represents the Roosevelt High area of southeast Fresno.
Of the four candidates, Núñez, 72, and Moore, 61, have support of unions and community groups that will help pay for campaign signs, literature and radio advertisements to reach the 145,083 voters in the school district.
Garcia, 57, and Diaz, 41, have no such endorsements. They said they will rely on friends and relatives to help them go door-to-door so voters can get to know them. "If we have to put her name on a piece of cardboard, we will do it," said Diaz's husband, Karl.
Núñez scoffs at the suggestion that he is Hanson's puppet.
He said he has challenged Hanson to build another elementary school in southeast Fresno to alleviate crowding at other schools. He also has criticized district officials for being slow in building a southwest middle school to stop a decades-long practice of busing children elsewhere.
Núñez said he deserves another term because Fresno Unified is on the upswing compared with three years ago, when the district was on the verge of a state takeover because it was in a financial mess. In June this year, the board adopted a nearly $702 million budget that protects student academic programs, maintains about $30 million in reserve, emphasizes campus safety and maintains music, arts and after-school sports next school year.
"I've done a good job," Núñez said. "The district has made a lot of gains."
But Núñez has taken heat for voting earlier this year to raise Hanson's pay from $205,000 to $277,000. With benefits, Hanson's total package was $336,700 a year.
In a recent interview, Núñez defended the vote, saying Hanson -- hired by Fresno Unified in 2005 -- had better offers from other school districts. If Fresno Unified hadn't ponied up, Hanson would have left, and it would have cost the district $300,000 just to find a replacement.
"We have made great strides under Hanson," Núñez said.
But Núñez's challengers said Hanson's raise was outrageous. They also said the timing of the Hanson raise was a bad move because the state was in the midst of its own financial crisis.
"Everyone knew the state was going to make cuts," said Diaz, a medical doctor in Mexico but a homemaker and mother of two in Fresno.
Núñez said Fresno Unified could be in trouble if Moore is elected. He said Moore's goal is to fire Hanson.
If elected, Moore said he will work with Hanson to make the district better. "I'm a team player," he said.
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