Meet The Candidate: Michael Hinojosa

Michael Hinojosa is a the former school superintendent of the Dallas Independent School District. It is the 12th largest school district in the country and has about 157,000 students in it. He has been superintendent at Dallas since 2005.
His educational history is: Dr. Hinojosa received a bachelor’s degree from Texas Tech University. He earned his master’s degree at the University of North Texas and received his doctorate from The University of Texas at Austin http://www.dallasisd.org/about/super.htm
He has also won numerous awards for being superintendent, per his web site.
Apparently, he did not seek the CCSD job: More information: Board president Adam Medrano said Hinojosa told him that he's being considered for the Las Vegas job. Medrano said Hinojosa did not seek out the post but was recruited. "He's not out there applying for another job," he said. "I know that he wants to be here." Medrano said he has no idea what the board's reaction will be if Hinojosa is named as a finalist because it hasn't been talked about. Several years ago when then-DISD superintendent Mike Moses was being talked about as a possible candidate for a position at a university, trustees called an emergency meeting and increased his salary. "We'll see what happens tomorrow," Medrano said.
Trustee Lew Blackburn, the board's first vice president, said as far as he's concerned, the board would wait to see if Hinojosa is offered the Las Vegas job before making a decision on what to do. "Board members have not talked about any kind of meeting to keep him or raise his pay," Blackburn said.
http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/news/localnews/stories/091610dnmethinojosavegas.f860ef27.html
Dallas has had some serious financial difficulties and had to lay off hundreds of teachers around 2008 but Dallas also has made some progress in academics.
He's revamped curriculum, boosted test scores, groomed new principals for tough schools and helped convince voters to approve a $1.35 billion bond program for new buildings and long-ignored repairs.
But a budget crisis that rocked the district in 2008 and sparked massive teacher layoffs has been Hinojosa's Achilles' heel – what one observer calls a "career-damaging event."
"That was my biggest disappointment," Hinojosa, 53, said of an estimated $64 million budget shortfall. "Obviously the biggest area of where my administration did not succeed."
After five years, statistics show the bottom line:
•DISD's student performance is clearly improving, though scores still rank near the bottom of the state's large urban districts. In 2005, 49 percent of the district's students were passing all of their state exams, a figure that has risen to 64 percent.
•The district's top magnet schools continue to be considered among the best high schools in the nation, while 10 comprehensive high schools are in such dire academic shape that some face closure by the state.
•DISD continues to struggle with a dismal graduation rate of 65 percent.
•The district has improved its financial systems, but its reserve fund remains dangerously low. A strong-willed school board often divided by race has also proven a challenge for Hinojosa, who is not known for politicking, schmoozing or coalescing opposing factions.
http://www.txcn.com/sharedcontent/dws/news/localnews/stories/0516dnmethinojosa5years.96eaa14.html
For whatever it is worth, Dr. Hinojosa is Hispanic.