AUSTIN - Today, Senator Eliot Shapleigh (D - El Paso) and Representative Joseph E. Moody (D - District 78, El Paso) honored El Paso educator Candelario Barragan with special resolutions on the floors of the Texas Senate and House.

Barragan was one of only four teachers in Texas to earn the Milken Family Foundation National Educator Award in 2007. Barragan, a mathematics teacher at El Dorado High School in El Paso, was first honored by the foundation at El Dorado in December 2007. The Milken National Educator Awards, called the "Oscars of Teaching" by Teacher Magazine, were created in 1985 to reward and retain the highest caliber professionals in our nation's schools. Honorees are picked by a committee that searches throughout the country for winners. The award included a $25,000 prize given to Barragan and 74 other honored teachers in March 2008 at a red-carpet program in Los Angeles, Calif. 

Barragan grew up in a family of migrant farm workers, working the fields as a young man before riding the bus to school. He went on to graduate as valedictorian of his class at Bowie High School and then to graduate cum laude with a degree in math from the University of Texas at El Paso.  

Highly beloved by his students, Barragan has already been honored at El Dorado High School as Teacher of the Year in 2006-07. His enthusiastic teaching style includes singing, dancing and use of humor to teach his students, who often specifically request to be placed in his advanced placement calculus class. His students are known to achieve a 98 percent passing rate on the Texas Assessment of Knowledge and Skills.  

"Candelario Barragan makes math fun. He's really a magnificent talent right here in El Paso," Senator Shapleigh said. 

"It is my pleasure to stand on the floor of the Texas House and honor Mr. Barragan.  I have a deep respect for Texas educators.  As the son of a long time teacher myself, I know the positive effects a good teacher can have on Texas students," Representative Moody said. "In a time when all we seem to talk about is teaching to the test, Mr. Barragan is known for his enthusiasm and good nature which help his students think creatively and broadly. Mr. Barragan has shown time and again that he is making a real difference in El Paso and the lives of children."