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 At West Briar, every transition is narrated: “Students, you have 3 minutes. Move with purpose to your next class. Students, 1 minute. Students, 15 seconds. Teachers, please close doors and issue tardy slips.” This happens all day, between all seven classes. Even as a volunteer, it’s stressful—death by a thousand stressors.

Meanwhile, a Crockett NES parent expressed concerns about NES schools, noting that despite flowery descriptions of “team centers,” they are essentially just thicker worksheet packets for “high flyers.” “My child is miserable with NES,” she said. “When I raise concerns about his love of learning fading, I’m told, ‘He’ll adjust to the rigor’ or ‘change is hard.’ Before the takeover, our school offered hands-on, project-based learning with a focus on social-emotional growth. He loved school and had better grades back then.”

Our students need to be nurtured, supported so they love learning and are prepared for college, career and a life full of joy. The takeover is harming our kids. 

Teachers and principals need to be supported and not treated like widgets on an endless merry-go-round of staff changes. In yesterday’s “Houston ISD puts Lantrip Elementary School's principal 'a whirlwind of positive energy' on leave”, “Parents largely shared that Castro had navigated a challenging situation at Lantrip due to sweeping staff turnover after last academic year. Fifteen teachers left the school in June alone.”

“The removal at Lantrip follows upheaval at other Central Division schools…Harvard Elementary School has a new principal, assistant principal and magnet coordinator following the reassignment of its previous assistant principal and magnet coordinator. Central Division also announced a new principal and four new assistant principals at Pershing Middle School on Nov. 7.”

Our community needs transparent and responsive leadership. Houston ISD reported that the number of open records requests submitted to the district doubled to more than 1,100 during the first year of the state takeover. “Eagleton said the growing number of requests “speaks volumes about how secretive” HISD has become, and it reflects lack of data transparency. She said she and other HISD community members are submitting more requests now because they feel like they don’t have enough information about what’s happening in their local schools.”

In today’s editorial, “Mike Miles shamed voters after HISD bond failure. Where’s the critical thinking?,” the editorial board wrote, ““At some point, Miles needs to realize that he can’t truly, sustainably, raise education outcomes at HISD without buy-in from the most important people in our young learners’ lives: their teachers and their parents.”

Join Lantrip parents on Wednesday, 7:15-7:45 to protest the harmful takeover. Our students need an accountable, elected board and a superintendent who cares about kids more than winning.