Fight Intensifies Over Future Of Struggling Houston Schools, District
Style Magazine Newswire | 1/9/2019, 8:24 a.m.
Leaders with Journey for Justice Alliance, Black Lives Matter Houston, HISD Parent Advocates and other groups organized a town hall this weekend.
As lawmakers head into the Texas legislative session this week, tensions have intensified over the future of Houston schools and the threat of a state takeover of the Houston Independent School District due to chronically low-performing schools. It’s included a bizarre press conference with the outgoing Harris County Treasurer, who called for a state takeover and got doused with water by a protestor; a scathing tweet from Gov. Greg Abbott calling HISD leadership a “joke” and a “disaster;” and a crowded town hall where advocates and parents renewed their call for a lawsuit against the Texas Education Agency. The threat of a state takeover stems from a state law, known as HB 1842 and passed in 2015. It requires the state’s Education Commissioner to close schools or replace the entire elected school board if even one public school has failed state standards for five or more years. Last year, HISD had 10 schools that could trigger the state takeover.
