Houston community groups to hold rally against HISD state takeover

"Governor Abbott has no business removing our democratically elected school board. State takeovers almost exclusively target districts with high percentages of Black, Brown, and low-income students. All around the country, state takeovers have failed miserably," Houston CPVE tweeted on Sunday, Jan. 29, in a tweet on the rally. 

Here's what we know so far about the takeover. 

The rally comes weeks after a Texas Supreme Court ruling gave TEA the power to take over the Houston Independent School District. With the ruling, the state has three options moving forward. 

The three options include the state appointing a conservator to oversee district operations and having power over the superintendent and district principals. The second option is replacing current HISD school board trustees with state board managers to oversee district duties. And the last option is to do nothing and keep the board as it is. 

Last week, State Rep. Harold Dutton also said in an interview with Texan that the state takeover was originally his idea after noticing poor accountability ratings in the school district.

“I got into the schools in my district and learned there was a dearth of learning taking place,” Dutton said. “Wheatley was a symptom of the problem. When I looked at the middle schools and elementary schools, they were failing also.”

HISD and CVPE did not respond for comment on the upcoming rally.