ISD families in Houston are concerned about the impact of the TEA takeover of the area

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HOUSTON — Parents, students and educators here on Wednesday denounced the state’s decision to take over the school district as a power grab that will not improve student learning.

The Texas Education Agency confirmed its plans to remove all nine members of the Houston Charter School District’s democratically elected school board, as well as its superintendent Millard House II. The district, which is home to nearly 190,000 students—about 85% of whom are Hispanic and Black—will become the largest district to be taken over by TEA.

“Not a single parent I’ve spoken to wants this,” said Audrey Nath, whose son is kindergartner at the bilingual Wharton Academy. “None of the parents or teachers I’ve talked to at school, on the playground, or on play dates say, ‘Oh, we need some unelected principals who take over our school.'” “Nobody says that.”

The state’s takeover of more than 270 college and school campuses comes in the face of disruptions caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.

After struggling with distance learning for two years, Ivonna Washington, now a senior at Lamar High School, said it took her months to get back to socializing at school.

She says that for many students, teachers are a very important figure in their lives. She worries that connection could be lost during acquisition if teachers are tasked with focusing on other priorities.

“They just took us back to school,” Washington said, “and now they want us to start doing great.” “If I go to school and my teachers only care about me as a test score for money, I can feel that and you don’t want to be there.”

Caoilin Krathaus, a freshman at Carnegie Vanguard High School, said the school district needs to support its students and teachers with resources — not be captured by state-appointed individuals.

“My classmates and I, and all HISD students, need adults who represent us and care deeply about our education and our concerns, not our financial value,” Kratos said at a news conference held by the Houston Teachers Union, the largest union in the area.

Phillis Wheatley High School — the campus that underperforming state officials say led to the takeover — is located in Houston’s Fifth Ward, where several residents said Wednesday they were skeptical of the state’s intentions to take over. They questioned the timing of the state’s intervention because the school has improved its performance — even after the pandemic — and the district is generally doing better than many other districts in Texas.

Others said they hope the region will be spared many sudden changes after finding a sense of stability after a decade of various scandals, including the start of the years-long legal fight with the state over the takeover.

But on Wednesday with schools off for spring break, many questions remained.

The county is one of the largest employers in the Houston area with nearly 30,000 full- and part-time workers, yet many of them said they were unsure how the buyout would affect their lives. The same goes for many of the parents and students of HISD.

“We’re praying for the good, not for making it worse,” said Melinda Torrey, a multi-grade science teacher who has been with HISD for more than a decade, as she grabbed lunch in the Fifth Ward with a colleague. “The bottom line is the students.”

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