Good afternoon.
We've just gone live with a breaking report from National Correspondent Beth Hawkins:
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In a long-anticipated move, the Texas Education Agency will take control of the Houston Independent School District — the largest state school system takeover in recent history — Commissioner Mike Morath announced earlier today.
The move ends a five-year stalemate between Morath and the district’s leadership, which fought the takeover in court.
The agency is soliciting applications from Houston residents who are interested in serving on a board of managers that is expected to take control of the 190,000-student school system no earlier than June 1. Morath is also expected to name a new superintendent to replace Millard House II, who was appointed in June 2021.
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In a letter to district leaders and an extensive interview with the Houston Landing, Morath said he has three priorities for the new leaders he will appoint.
He wants the managers, who he said will serve indefinitely, to improve conditions in Houston’s lowest-performing schools — some of which have failed to meet state standards for more than a decade. He wants them to concentrate on the district’s ongoing struggles to provide special education services to students with disabilities. And he said he wants his appointees “consistently focused on improving student outcomes, and not something else.”
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“Even with governance challenges, many students are flourishing in Houston ISD schools, due in no small part to the extraordinary work of the district’s teachers and staff,” Morath noted in his letter. “In fact, Houston ISD operates some of the highest-performing schools in the state of Texas. But district procedures have also allowed it to operate schools where the support provided to students is not adequate.”
Besides academic performance, a state investigator’s finding that some members of a previous Houston ISD board had engaged in irregularities was a factor cited by education officials when they first announced they were stepping in in late 2019. A state court put the takeover on hold pending the outcome of a district lawsuit that charged Morath was acting improperly.
In January, the Texas Supreme Court lifted the injunction, ruling that Morath was complying with the law by intervening. Last week, eight of Houston’s nine elected board members voted not to continue the legal challenge.years ago...
Read Beth's full report at The 74.
Go Deeper
- Flashback — From January: Top Texas Court Green-Lights State Takeover of Houston Schools. Will it Happen?
- From 2019: As Texas Moves to Replace Houston’s School Board, Here Are 7 Things to Know About the Takeover
- Texas Student Recovery: STAAR Results Improve in Math and Reading After Pandemic Dips
- Education Reforms: Texas Gov. Greg Abbott Promises to be ‘Heavily Involved’ in Push for Education Savings Accounts
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