The State of Texas’ decision to take control of the Houston Independent School District (HISD) elicited reactions from several leaders, including Gov. Greg Abbott and Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner, Houston-based media outlets reported.
The Texas Education Agency (TEA) announced the move on Wednesday, March 15, marking the first time it will change the leadership of a large, public urban school district.
HISD, which educates nearly 200,000 students and is among the largest districts in the U.S., is alleged to have yielded poor academic performance for a number of years, as one of its high schools – Wheatley in Houston’s Fifth Ward neighborhood – accorded an F rating.
According to Houston CBS affiliate KHOU, Abbott, a Republican, said the situation was “really unfortunate.”
"There has been a long-time failure by HISD and the victims of that failure are the students," the governor said, the station reported.
Abbott has made his rounds across the state advocating for school choice, which allows parents to use their tax dollars to enroll their children in private or charter schools.
Turner, a Democrat who’s in his final year in the Bayou City’s highest office, claimed earlier this month that his sources in the Texas Legislature told him the state could replace HISD’s entire leadership, a move he has spoken out against.
The mayor said officials in Austin handled everything poorly, Houston ABC affiliate KTRK reported.
“Instead of grading the students and the teachers, the Texas Education Agency needs to grade themselves on how they are handling this matter,” Turner said in a tweet. “I give them an F.”
While Houston-area Democrats appear to be critical of the state, at least one of them believes intervention from Austin is necessary.
State Rep. Harold Dutton (D-Houston) is the author behind the amendment that paved the way for the takeover; he asserted he has no regrets in regard to Wednesday’s development, per KHOU.
“When you look at the students who are coming into our criminal justice system, they’re coming from the ZIP codes with the failing schools, and so why shouldn’t we fix these schools?” Dutton, a Wheatley graduate, wrote in an editorial that was published in Houston’s lone major publication, the station reported.
TEA head Mike Morath said that that changes won’t happen immediately, but Superintendent Millard House, II and the entire HISD Board of Education will soon be replaced by a slate of officials appointed by the TEA, Houston Daily reported citing a report from KTRK.
