AUSTIN – After the TEA (Texas Education Commission) formally announced on Wednesday, March 15 that they planned on taking over control of Houston ISD and replacing its superintendent and installing a board of managers, Democratic Legislators led by Aldine’s State Representative Armando Walle, Ron Reynolds and several others held a news conference to strongly oppose the move by TEA. Here is the statement that Walle issued:
“Neighbors,
Today, the Texas Education Agency (TEA) announced they are initiating its takeover of the Houston Independent School District (HISD) by appointing a Board of Managers to govern the school district in lieu of the elected HISD School Board.
For context, TEA notified HISD of their intent to appoint a Board of Managers and new superintendent in 2019, citing Texas law that authorizes a state takeover once a district demonstrates an inability to improve student achievement over time at low-performing campuses. In response, HISD immediately sought a temporary injunction to prevent the takeover. In January of 2023, the Texas Supreme Court vacated this injunction, and it was formally dissolved on March 1, 2023.
This morning, State Representatives and Senators of the Harris County Delegation met with Commissioner Mike Morath of the Texas Education Agency to discuss the takeover. During the meeting, many Members — including myself — expressed our disappointment and anger over the decision.
Make no mistake — I do not support the state takeover of HISD. I believe Texans deserve the right to democratically elect board members to run our neighborhood schools. I acknowledge there’s been underperformance in the past at some specific campuses, which can largely be tied to severe underfunding. However, I have voted against proposals in the Legislature year after year that, unfortunately, ultimately passed and have led us to where we are now.
I will continue to work with my colleagues in the Legislature to support proposals to prevent state takeovers of local ISDs. But those potential changes would be months away, and the HISD takeover is happening now.
I pledge to work closely with our educators, administrators and the newly appointed Board of Members to support our community schools and ensure our students are receiving the best education possible.
I will be a loud advocate for every HISD student and their families to set our neighborhood schools up for success as this takeover is implemented, and speed up the return of our elected ISD board members.
At the end of the day, this is about our kids.
If you have any questions or concerns about this issue, please reach out to my office.
Sincerely,
Representative Armando Walle House District 140