Petition is now in multiple languages
The petition to oppose the hostile takeover of HISD by the TEA is now available in multiple languages including Spanish, Vietnamese, Chinese, Tagalog, Korean, and Turkish. You can easily access the petition by clicking on these links, or directly from our homepage at houstoncvpe.org.
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Democracy dies in darkness - speak at the board meeting on Thursday
Would you be able to speak about the hostile state takeover at the Houston ISD Board meeting at 5 pm on Thursday?
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Myth of the Benevolent HISD Takeover
By CVPE Members Ann McCoy and Jeremy Eugene
After an in-depth interview with TEA commissioner, Mike Morath, the Houston Chronicle’s editorial board concluded that his “vision” was “more ambitious than we thought.” However, the commissioner’s ambitions for HISD and its students may be neither in the long-term best interests of students, parents, and teachers. They are also not what voters and taxpayers want.
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Students & parents protest hostile takeover: Watch video here
On Thursday, hundreds of students and parents protested the hostile state takeover of Houston ISD.
Watch a one minute video of protests at schools all over HISD here or @houstoncvpe FB, instagram or twitter.
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Thursday day of action
WILL YOU FIGHT THIS HOSTILE TAKEOVER?
Can you join a family protest at your school before school on Thursday, April 6th? There are about 30 schools participating and counting. Parents gather with their children in front of the school with teachers. Bring a sign, pass out petition flyers, set up a table with donuts, and talk about the takeover. Sign the petition at houstoncvpe.org.
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TEA Lies & myth-busting
The Texas Education Agency (TEA) representative shared vague and sometimes false responses to questions at the four community meetings last week and in his interview with the Houston Chronicle editorial board. Here are six of their lies and the myth-busting facts TEA has not shared with the public.
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Morath spins more snake oil and things you can do THIS week
Can you join us this week to fight the takeover? RSVP at houstoncvpe.org/events.
Commissioner Morath has only found time to talk to business leaders and the Chronicle Editorial Board about the takeover. Read the editorial and some takeaways below.
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The fox is taking over the henhouse
As the Texas Education Agency continues to move forward with its hostile takeover of HISD we are getting glimpses of what lies ahead. Last week the TEA formally launched its recruitment and application process for the Board of Managers with two community meetings that were unmitigated disasters. The Houston Chronicle editorial board asked the question on all of our minds, If TEA can’t run a meeting, how can they run HISD?
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Taking the public out of public education
Last night’s TEA community meeting is a warning of what we can expect from the Texas Education Agency’s anti-democratic hostile takeover.
TEA said they would only answer written questions about the board of managers process and when parents complained, the TEA cherry-picked the questions to answer. The Kashmere meeting is last and most of the meetings are far away from the schools that are most at risk of closure.
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"Broad" Schools: What TEA Is Planning Is Nothing New
Mike Miles, likely HISD superintendent pick, graduated from the Broad Academy. This is what it’s like to teach at a school that won the Broad Prize.
It is tempting to sit back and wait to see what happens when TEA takes over. They will wrap it up in a pretty package and make it look like they are helping our kids learn. But any model that prioritizes test scores and accountability above human beings will end up exactly how my school did. The only way to impose joyless learning is through rigid control, intimidation, and force. [En español aqui]
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