First there were three, then there were two. Now there is just one. [En Espanol]

At the May 18th HISD Special Board Meeting, the Texas Education Agency Deputy Commissioner Lecholop told the public that there would be three public Board of Managers meetings in June. Since then, they reduced the number of meetings to two. As of today, there is now only one public meeting.

Does the Texas Education Agency plan to make all decisions about Houston ISD, our schoolchildren, and schools under cover of darkness? With only one meeting in June, will the unelected and appointed board  just show up, approve the budget and do whatever TEA says and, viola, done? 

Not even the veneer of democracy for Houston families. Fight back at the Protest on June 8th at Houston ISD at 4:15 pm. RSVP at houstoncvpe.org/events.

Are the Texas Education Agency and the governor ready for primetime? Today is the day they are supposed to announce the sham board of managers and we have not heard anything. We don’t know who the superintendent is. The TEA and Governor Abbott are about to take over the largest school district in Texas and it is unclear if there is a plan at all. 

Our children, our teachers, deserve more than a hastily assembled experiment. Show up for public ed on June 8th, 4:15-5 pm at HISD, 4400 W 18th.

Read more about the takeover in today’s Houston Public Media, TEA takeovers Houston schools this week. In it, Lindsey Pollock sums up the problem with this illegitimate dismantling of public education and democracy.

“The school cannot fix all of society’s struggles," she said. "And yet somehow, as a society, we’ve demonized public schools. And we want school teachers and administrators to fix all the things that our elected officials refuse to acknowledge."