Last night, opponents of Governor Abbott’s takeover of HISD staged a dramatic "spotlight" protest to highlight the voices of voters who defeated the two school bonds proposed by the unelected school board.

Using a powerful spotlight aimed at the facades of school facilities across Houston including HISD Administrative/Sports Complex, Lantrip Elementary, Harvard Elementary and Wheatley High School, organizers projected a strong message from the community: “Can You Hear Us Now?”

Today, as a continuation of this demonstration, Community Voices for Public Education is demanding that HISD - which has fired thousands of teachers and staff and faces severe budget constraints - recoup the more than $1.5 million in taxpayer dollars given to the three politically-connected firms hired to promote the bonds as reported by the Houston Chronicle. The firms are Outreach Strategists, MGT and Rice & Gardner.  

In addition to today’s announcement, parents of HISD students will be out in force at the next school board meeting on Tuesday, December 10th, to publicly demand school board members claw these dollars back from the firms in addition to demanding that Miles is removed and local control is returned so we can build a better bond.

“After all is said and done, it looks like the only winners in this entire effort were the well-heeled political consultants who made off with hundreds of thousands of taxpayer dollars,” said Kelly Blikre, HISD parent and volunteer with Community Voices For Public Education. 

“Not only did these firms fail to persuade Houstonians to support these school bonds, but they’ve taken hundreds of thousands of dollars away from students, teachers, and school administrators who desperately need those funds. We need a better bond - but only after we gain local control of our school board and gain trust with HISD leadership.” 

Join CVPE and Houston Stitching Together this Sunday from 1-3 at Class Bookstore in Third Ward. Let’s knit, crochet and make plans together to reclaim our schools.