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Charters, vouchers, takeovers, and school closures are all part of the same playbook. They’re not about helping children. They are about creating opportunities to profit at the expense of public schools and the students who depend on them.

Public education is the cornerstone of a thriving democracy. When it is dismantled, democracy itself is weakened.

Do you want to understand how this works? Register for the Texas Center for Voucher Transparency (TXCVT) webinar this Thursday at 6:30 pm and arm yourself with the facts to fight the voucher scam.

Their recent TXCVT public information request shows that early voucher data raises serious questions about transparency and access:

• 76% of voucher applications come from families whose children are not enrolled in public or charter schools.(TXCVT media release, 3/6/26)
  
  
• Less than 1% of public and charter school families have applied. As of March 4, 36,242 families had applied, just 0.7% of the 5.5 million students in Texas public and charter schools. (TXCVT media release, 3/6/26)
  
  
• 148 of 254 Texas counties (58%) have no brick-and-mortar private school accepting vouchers, even though taxpayers there will fund them. (TEFA map)

This same agenda is playing out right here in Houston ISD.

Miles is treating Houston ISD like a grifter’s paradise, with Miles and the board of managers looking to make money from school closures, real estate charter deals and other schemes, all at the expense of student learning.

The closure fight is not over. Mike Miles is not fit to lead, and the takeover is harming our kids. By law, it could end tomorrow. Miles and Commissioner Mike Morath could declare “victory” and leave. And if Texans elect a new governor in November, that governor could immediately replace Morath with a commissioner who would end the takeover. It’s just that simple.

The way these school closures are being handled is unconscionable. Families were given just two weeks’ notice that their schools are closing and only one more week to decide where their children will go next year. That is unacceptable and possibly illegal.

It is deeply wrong that schools are being closed in Black and Brown neighborhoods. At the same time, the Board of Managers is preparing to vote on March 19 to give more funding to selective magnet schools serving more affluent families.

Miles is lying when he promises more autonomy and dollars to HSPVA, Energy, HAIS, and Challenge. Parents are not buying it. Miles will still hold all the leverage, and the fees for services will likely be inflated to fund his pet projects that do nothing to improve the conditions in which students learn.

Are you a parent at one of these schools? Email us to learn how you can fight these charter handoffs.

Here is what you can do.

1. Email the Board of Managers and your elected officials (here and here.)
   Demand that HISD extend the school choice deadline until May and give families whose schools are closing priority to attend the school of their choice. Ask real elected officials to help since the Board of Managers listen with tin ears
2. Show up at the next Board meeting.
   Did you know that Mike Miles wears a ring that he thinks will predict the future, wearing this ring as far back as 2023.  He even trademarked his “Rings of Navarre” last May and is selling these rings.  Watch the whole story and then see for yourself at the March 19th Board meeting.
3. Check your voter registration status or help a friend register to vote! Voter registration cards are available at every post office and library.