Texas Education Agency Threatens Takeover Of Houston ISD’s Failing Schools

HOUSTON, TX — The Texas Education Agency is warning the Houston Independent School District that a board of managers could be appointed to take control of the district if 13 area schools don’t show improvement by the 2019-2020 school year.

In 2016, the TEA identified 44 school districts and 22 charter schools that categorized as “improvement required,” which means those schools failed to meet state academic accountability requirements.

State education officials told lawmakers during a meeting on Monday that even if one of those HISD schools fails to meeting accountability standards in each of the next two years, that state officials could step in and take control of the entire district, the Houston Chronicle reported.

Schools and school districts that fall into the improvement required, or IR category for three years or more can fall under a the control of a state appointed board of managers, or close the under performing schools, thanks to a law passed by the state legislature in 2015.

“This is a precedent to dismantle public education,” HISD board secretary Rhonda Skillern-Jones said at a press conference Wednesday. “It’s not just a local trend and it’s not just a state trend, it’s a national trend.”

Houston ISD is one of the largest school districts in the U.S. with more than 280 campuses serving more than 210,000 students.

Skillern-Jones said trustees are working closely with HISD Superintendent Richard Carranza to come up with innovative ideas to right the ship.

“We intend to fight this in the classroom,” she said. “We think our kids are capable of learning and we are going to give them the tools to do that. We are going to push and push through this nine months to ensure that those kids do not miss the mark.”

HISD board president Wanda Adams, who stood by Skillern-Jones , said as a whole HISD is doing well, and the district plans to stay focused on this few campuses to ensure because significant improvements have already been implemented.

“We are the captains of this ship, and we want to make sure that we stay afloat, that HISD will not fail, and we will not have a board of managers come and destroy public education,” Adams said. “I know we can achieve (this).”

You can read more on this story at Chron.com.

Image: Shutterstock

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