ABOVE: Phillis Wheatley High School, located in Fifth Ward.
One of the most talked about issues here in the Greater Houston area has been the controversial discussion surrounding the potential takeover of the Houston Independent School District (HISD) by the Texas Education Agency (TEA).
For more historical context, we need to understand how we got to this point.
Back in 2019, TEA Commissioner Mike Morath declared that the agency was going to be taking control of HISD. That prospective takeover at that time included replacing the entire school board; potentially replacing the superintendent; dealing with the well-documented and publicly embarrassing dysfunction amongst the school board; addressing serious allegations surrounding potential misconduct by select trustees; and the low performance issues at only one school—Phillis Wheatley High School, located in Houston’s historic Fifth Ward.
When news of the proposed takeover was announced, HISD officials and many community leaders immediately balked at the plan and spoke out against it.
Going further, HISD filed a lawsuit in 2020 to stop the proposed takeover, to which a district judge in Travis County ruled in favor of granting a temporary injunction to HISD to stop the takeover. An appeals court heard the case, and the injunction was upheld, which prompted TEA to take the case to the Texas Supreme Court to be heard.
In what appeared to be a serious blow to HISD, the Texas Supreme Court ruled last month that TEA was well within its rights, according to state law, to take control of HISD—the largest school district in Texas and the eighth-largest school district in the country.
If TEA does decide to take over HISD, they could either 1) appoint a conservator, 2) replace all the current elected HISD board members, or 3) remain with the status quo and allow the current HISD board and leadership to continue functioning as it always has.
So now, the serious question on the table is…should the TEA actually takeover HISD?
Well, it truly depends on who you ask quite honestly, although most of the people the Forward Times spoke with believe it would be wrong and a terrible mistake to take over HISD.
The Forward Times recently spoke with key stakeholders, elected officials, political analysts, and community advocates in the Greater Houston area to give their feedback on the matter.
STATE REPRESENTATIVE HAROLD V. DUTTON, JR., TEXAS DISTRICT 142
Yes, there is a justifiable reason to takeover HISD. HISD failed to comply with the law that permits a school district to be taken over by the state when a campus in the district is failing for at least five consecutive school years. The HISD Board could have avoided the consequences of the law if they had fixed the failing campus. I don’t like the idea of a state takeover as much, if not more, than anyone. But I hate failing schools more. Failing schools destroy a child’s future, not to mention their child and their child’s future. The law was passed in 2015, and that is more than enough time for any school board to fix a failing campus if they choose too. Apparently, HISD either doesn’t desire to fix failing campuses, which are generally located in east Houston, or they can’t. To some extent this explains why HISD constantly advocates for being a district of choice. All of the choices are dominated by east Houston students leaving their neighborhood schools to get to campuses in west Houston. Why should this continue? Let’s make sure all of our schools are education magnets. What I can tell you is if we keep doing what we have been doing we are going to get what we have been getting –and that presents a tragedy for all of us, especially for our children and families in northeast Houston.
KATHY BLUEFORD-DANIELS, DISTRICT II, ASSISTANT SECRETARY
Currently, seven of the nine members from the board that have been in place since 2019 are all new. Under the leadership of Superintendent House, who was hired in 2021, 40 of the 54 previously failing campuses in the 2019-2020 school years have improved to passing grades of “C” which includes Wheatley, whose precipice determined possibilities for other failing campuses. Now let’s be clear…. this current 2023 legislative session, we will hear a louder cry for vouchers and charter schools. Vouchers that may be given as much as $10K. Sounds good, unless a child attends a school where the tuition is $20K or more… then the parent(s) will have to foot the difference. House Bill 1842, from the 2015 Legislature, established that based on academic performance: “If one campus in any school district in the state of Texas had four or five years of low performance, the commissioner could either come in and close the campus or appoint a board of managers.” Our children CAN, and will learn, when the academic, athletic, and CTE (Career, Technology, and Education) playing fields are leveled. While I understand the premise of HB 1842, and while I also believe that low performing campuses should NOT continue to operate without support from the district to concentrate on lowest achieving campuses, we must be mindful that those lowest performing schools are located primarily in Black and brown communities. These are campuses that have been stripped of CTE programs to retain students at their home/community schools. These programs have been centralized and most of them are located on campuses in western HISD district campuses. Students from our communities then transfer to the west side of the district for their CTE and athletic programs. Look, there is no justifiable reason for TEA to takeover at this time, but they should allow us to continue the improvements this Board and Superintendent have achieved and will continue to make. TEA takeover could further negatively affect the education of our most vulnerable student population, post COVID years of 2020 and 2021. Impacts felt all over the country, not just in HISD. Allow us to continue doing the work!
STATE REPRESENTATIVE RON REYNOLDS, TEXAS DISTRICT 27, TEXAS LEGISLATIVE BLACK CAUCUS CHAIR
In my opinion, a TEA takeover of HISD would hurt the district. Currently, HISD has substantially improved at all schools, including Wheatley High School. They have a new Superintendent, Mr. Milliard House, who is doing an excellent job of turning the district around. HISD also has an almost entirely new board of trustees who are governing well together, unlike the past board. There is data to support how ineffective state takeovers have performed in the past. Moreover, there is data to show how Wheatley is now meeting state standards. A TEA takeover would mean that they could replace the locally elected board of trustees with individuals who have no ties to the community, nor diversity. They could replace the Superintendent, who is African American and doing an excellent job, with a person who doesn’t care about our majority Black schools. I understand that there is a justifiable reason on paper for TEA to take over HISD, based on Senate Bill (SB) 1365, which passed in 2021. Based upon this legislation, TEA could take over an entire school district if any campus has consecutive years of unacceptable performance. Wheatley High School did not meet state standards for two consecutive years and triggered the implications of SB 1365, however, it should be noted that this is permissive and not mandatory. HISD is the largest school district in Texas and shouldn’t be taken over because of one school that didn’t meet standards. TEA should instead focus on ensuring that HISD has sufficient resources to meet the challenges of educating students from economically challenged neighborhoods.
SISTER MAMA SONYA, COMMUNITY ADVOCATE
There is absolutely NO justifiable reason for the TEA to take over HISD. The conditions that existed when the takeover was first proposed no longer exist. Representative Dutton’s bill was the primary basis for the takeover. At that time, Wheatley was a low performing school for several years, and was supposedly the trigger. According to Rep. Dutton’s bill, if a school was low performing for a number of years, TEA could take over the district. There was also discord between board members that affected their governance. As of today, Wheatley is no longer low performing and there are new members on the board. HISD is rated B+. Taking over a school district such as HISD makes absolutely no sense at all. A takeover would, first and foremost, absolutely harm the HISD scholars. The governor and head of TEA have expressed their preference for vouchers and charters. If the takeover goes through, our scholars will not be guaranteed a quality choice for public education. We would also experience taxation without representation, in that our governing Board of Education would be chosen, not elected, by those who they would serve. If the right-wing governor and his cronies (TEA) are allowed to choose our representatives, the basic values needed to assure our scholars get a balanced education would be lacking.
STATE REPRESENTATIVE JOLANDA JONES, DISTRICT 147, FORMER HISD BOARD TRUSTEE, FORMER HOUSTON CITY COUNCILMEMBER
There is no justifiable reason for TEA to take over HISD. TEA is basing its decision to take over HISD on one school. Wheatley would’ve passed under the rules that were in place at the time, but TEA changed the rules, and made them fail. A TEA takeover would have a negative impact on each Independent School District (ISD) because a board of managers are not elected, and they don’t have to answer to the constituents in those districts. Look at what happened when TEA took over North Forest ISD. TEA failed that entire district woefully and its students. TEA is going to do the same if they take over HISD. And, after they took over and failed North Forest ISD, TEA forced HISD to absorb North Forest ISD, and promised HISD an appropriation for the North Forest ISD students, yet didn’t give HISD the appropriation for those students, which compounded the inadequate funding of HISD. All you have to do is look around to see any urban schools that TEA has taken over and you will see that TEA did not make them better. TEA is tone deaf to the community; the very community which they are supposed to be protecting and educating.
BOBBY SCOTT, COMMUNITY ADVOCATE
The vast majority of school districts that have been taken over by state agencies (TEA included) have not improved but declined. TEA has no experience managing a district of 200k plus scholars and we should not suffer as the guinea pigs. There are a number of potential justifiable reasons for the Texas Education Agency (TEA) to take over the Houston Independent School District (HISD) in 2023, based off of the in-house fighting amongst the previous elected trustees. The TEA could take over HISD if it is found to be in violation of certain state laws that State Representative Harold Dutton co-authored. It could also take over the district if it is found to be lacking in certain areas, such as the academic performance of certain high schools, and its inability to provide an effective education to its students. Ultimately, the decision to take over HISD would require careful consideration and debate, since there are both potential benefits and costs associated with such a decision. The Texas State Supreme Court has already given TEA the green light to do such. A potential TEA takeover of HISD may help the district in a variety of ways. Some potential benefits of a TEA takeover include increased accountability and oversight of senior management, possible better resource allocation, and improved fiscal responsibility. It may also help to reduce teacher turnover, and better align educational policies with the needs of the students and community. On the other hand, a TEA takeover may also lead to increased bureaucracy, higher costs, less flexibility, and less local control. There are a number of other details and information that can be used to bolster the argument that a TEA takeover of HISD may be beneficial. Reports from the TEA have shown that in other districts that have been taken over there has been an increase in student achievement and an overall improvement in the quality of educational services provided. Furthermore, a TEA takeover has also been seen to improve parental engagement, providing more avenues for parents to get involved in their children’s education. Finally, a TEA takeover can also lead to better distribution of resources, allowing funds to be allocated where they are most needed. Overall, careful consideration should be given to the potential benefits and costs of a TEA takeover of HISD, as it could have an impact on the district and its students.
- MICHAEL O. ADAMS, PROFESSOR OF POLITICAL SCIENCE, TEXAS SOUTHERN UNIVERSITY
HISD is in this predicament because they closed neighborhood schools in the Black community and have not properly invested long term in Black and Hispanic students’ academic performance.
To end the takeover threat, improve Black and Hispanic student performance and college readiness and success. The focus on these takeover conversations needs to focus solely on students’ performance and ethics in operation of the districts. Improve in these areas and there is no need for a takeover. Look at the Kinder Institute study on HISD and the Houston Endowment’s A New Measure of Academic Success. Also look at the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board’s data on Texas high school graduates during the first year of college in Texas. Data is bad across the board, but worst for Black and Hispanic students. The focus should be on students’ academic and college readiness and performance, and not political or ethics problems. This is the only way we build a skill-based workforce that is geared to economic development for all Texans.
- PAMELA BOVELAND, COMMUNITY ADVOCATE
Based on the original takeover plan of TEA, and HB 1842, both the HISD board and Wheatley High School have changed significantly, so there is no reason to takeover HISD. Let’s remove when Wheatley High School passed and stopped the takeover. TEA changed the rule so that Wheatley would actually fail for the fifth year in a row. The failure was based on two students.
However, a new bill (SB 1365) improves the TEA’s ability to takeover a district by adding schools that are rated “D” and “F” and making the assigning of conservator to one campus for two years. Furthermore, the takeover decision is ‘final and unappealable’. To be clear, a takeover of the largest district in the state sends a clear political warning to similar counties that are not controlled by Republicans. Governor Abbott is intent on disenfranchising voters by any means. Removing an elected unpaid Board of Trustees and replacing them with a highly paid board of managers is a clear form of voter suppression. Historically, district takeovers have not improved student outcomes. TEA’s takeover track record is dismal. In fact, when TEA took over North Forest Independent School District, it was HISD that removed the burden of managing the district from TEA. Of course, a TEA takeover hurts the children of HISD, which is already experiencing issues from a loss of enrollment and operating dollars, since COVID. Besides undermining our democracy, HISD will be subjected to all the policy decisions of a group of consultants who have no accountability to the area voters. In addition, HISD will be forced to pay for the unelected managers and consultants. None of this is focused on improving student outcomes, just exercising political power over the powerless. The takeover will result in closing schools in Black and brown communities, larger class sizes, and more money directed at STAAR test prep. It will reverse the progressive gains that are being made to improve schools that have been faced with shrinking enrollment, by increasing specialized programming intended to attract students. HISD, which has over 240 schools, has maintained a B+ or better rating. Over the last three decades, previous administrations have worked to drain the life out of schools in Black and brown communities through policies and decisions that supported the multi-million charter school empire. It is only in the last decade with the election of excellent trustees from these communities that some progress in the right direction has been made. We have had Superintendents who tried to reverse some of the effects of the death by policy agenda that has dismantled our community schools. Change, especially policy change, in the largest district in the state takes time. When a previous administration closed over 60 schools in Black and brown communities, removed programming that attracted students from other schools and districts, and created a high-stakes testing environment that continues to falsely project schools in lower income communities as failing, there were only accolades showered on HISD by the Republican-controlled state legislature. Now that aggressive moves are being made in changing the policies and initiatives that choked our community schools, now HISD needs to be taken over for the good of the children? I find it extremely interesting that the Republican-controlled state legislature has continued to double down on the very activities that have crushed the schools in our communities. They want to disenfranchise voters by any means that suppresses voter’s rights and control. We must all stand up against this takeover and continue to work to dismantle any policy that is designed to harm our children.
This is sure to continue being a major conversation in our community for weeks to come. What is TEA going to do, and will the community continue to fight against this potential takeover?
A petition has been created to say “NO” to the TEA takeover. The link to the petition can be found here: http://houstoncvpe.org/notakeover.
The Forward Times will continue to follow this important matter.