A takeover is an assault on democratic principles and the future of public education in Houston. Whether you support the interim superintendent or you do not and whatever your criticisms of the current school board, a state takeover has dire ramifications for our city and our kids.

Will you sign the resolution against state takeover? Will you attend a press conference on Monday at 4 pm at HISD organized by a coalition of Houston organizations, students and parents?

If the state takes over HISD, the largest district in the state, it will be the first takeover in the country due solely to standardized test scores. This takeover would be based on the performance of just 1.4% of HISD schools and based on the fundamentally flawed assumption that STAAR is even a remotely reasonable measure of school success.

Our elected trustees would be replaced by an appointed board of managers. They would function much like a charter board with no accountability to the voters. 1 in 3 charters fail due largely to the fact that charter operators can steal money, make money on the backs of children and exclude children with impunity. When school board trustees set bad policy, we can vote them out. There will be no such recourse with a board of managers.

Energized for Excellence gives us a snapshot of what we can expect. Lois Bullock, the founder of Energized, pays herself about $500,000/yr to run a school with just 4000 kids and loaned herself $6.8 million at 5% interest supposedly to be repaid in 2030. Mind you, this money is state educational dollars that HISD pays Energized each year that is supposed to be used for instruction. It is cronyism. The Energized vote, 5-4, to extend the contract last night is an affront to us all. Read more at

What else can we expect if the state takes over HISD?

  • An appointed board of managers can roll back ground gained like community schools, protections for children and restorative justice practices in the blink of an eye.
  • A board of managers could use STAAR scores to evaluate teachers again despite the fact that standardized test scores have less than 10% correlation to teacher quality.
  • A state takeover would lead to irreversible and discriminatory chartering of schools in black and brown communities and would reduce equity and access for our most disenfranchised students.
  • A board of managers is ill-suited to manage HISD after TEA has demonstrated neglect for adequately serving the needs of the state’s students with disabilities for years.
  • The board of managers will be appointed by Governor Abbott and TEA Commissioner Morath and will reflect their anti-public education agenda.

Children, teachers, parents, and communities will only have a voice as long as decision makers are accountable to them. Support a democratically elected school board.

Oppose state takeover. Sign the resolution against state takeover.

 

Ruth Kravetz

About

teacher, parent, progressive, committed to public education equity and adequacy