Mike Miles, the possible superintendent, apparently has a secret 200-page plan to quickly close 20-30 schools, charter some, and gut wraparound services once the takeover happens on June 1st. But Morath said nothing about that on Tuesday when he spoke to teachers. 

This morning, the TEA postponed the first occupation board of managers (BOM) meeting to June 8th and said the new sham BOM will be sworn in on or before June 1st. 

Fight back and attend the June 8th hostile takeover protest on the first day in which the BOM is meeting at HISD for agenda review. Meet at 4:15 pm at HISD, 4400 W 18th. RSVP at houstoncvpe.org/events.

Shed light on bad decisions to lessen the negative impact. It matters.

The unelected & unaccountable board of managers has probably not been announced yet to avoid having to comply with the Open Meetings Act. By keeping the public in the dark as long as possible, they can meet in secret this month to rubberstamp whatever Morath and the new superintendent tell them.  

Here is the timeline. 462 people submitted applications for the Board of Managers. 227 people attended the entire 18-hour Lone Star Governance indoctrination training session. The Texas Observer reports that an audio recording of trainings for unelected school managers paints a bleak picture of the Bayou City’s educational future. 

“The Lone Star Governance creator and trainer A.J. Crabill told potential board members at the training, “The vast majority of the financial decisions, once the board adopts the budget, have already been made by the administration. … Once the board delegates, it’s done.” 

“An audio recording of the sessions obtained by the Texas Observer, reveal the state plans to limit the board’s role to enforcing high-stakes testing in schools and rubber-stamping financial and operational decisions made by the new superintendent, also to be selected by Morath.” 

After the training, TEA eliminated most of the applicants, interviewed fifty of them, and further reduced the pool on April 28th. The remaining 20-30 attended another training the last weekend in April and the numbers of BOM candidates were culled even more. Since then there has been radio silence.

This past Tuesday, the Houston Chronicle reported that “during his tenure in Dallas, Miles introduced several reform measures, including a new performance-based payment system for teachers and principals, and stirred disruption and controversy due in part to his management style.” Hopefully, it is not Miles. 

Do not let this takeover happen under cover of darkness. Our teachers and families deserve better.

RSVP for the protest at houstoncvpe.org/events. Sign the petition at houstoncvpe.org.