State Lawmakers Introduce Bill in Response to TEA’s Possible Acquisition of HISD

Under current law, the current school board of elected trustees will be replaced by a state-appointed board if a takeover occurs.

HOUSTON. State legislators introduced the bill in response to the Texas Education Agency’s (TEA) pending acquisition of Houston ISD.

Editor’s Note: The video above was posted on March 6th.

Senate Bill 1662, introduced by State Senators Carol Alvarado, Borris Miles, and John Whitmire, ensures that TEA will not be required to close a school or replace a school board with a board of directors during a takeover.

Under current law, the current school board of elected trustees will be replaced by a state-appointed board if a takeover occurs.

“SB 1662 gives the agency the ability to work with HISD to address any current shortcomings instead of buying out nearly 200,000 students and 27,000 teachers and staff,” said Senator Alvarado.

Mayor Sylvester Turner reiterated on Tuesday that he expects TEA to be operational soon.

The only thing TEA has said is that it continues to “review the Supreme Court’s decision to determine the next steps that will best support the students, teachers, parents, and school community of the Houston Independent School District.” .

Community members voiced their opposition to the TEA takeover at a forum hosted by the Houston NAACP and several local organizations on Monday.

Many speakers at the forum called it a hostile move and said that the TEA takeover would do more harm to students than good for them or their teachers.

“There should be more options for one,” HISD mother Marlene Jones said. “We can’t just go and take over a school, especially a school that has made progress.”

A HISD teacher who participated in the forum said she and her colleagues were scared.

“We don’t know the future,” said Arnetta Murray. “We don’t know if we’ll get a job. We don’t know anything, and that’s wrong.”

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