Abbott takes jab at HISD trustees
Calling leadership a ‘disaster,’ tweet hints at state takeover
Gov. Greg Abbott blasted Texas’ largest school district with a Twitter missive Thursday, calling Houston ISD’s leadership “a disaster” that deserves to be replaced as punishment for failing children.
The rare condemnation from Abbott follows months of criticism heaped on Houston ISD’s school board, which has endured embarrassing displays of personal acrimony and a secretive effort to oust Interim Super-
intendent Grenita Lathan. Abbott had not spoken publicly about Houston’s turmoil until his 43-word tweet, posted from his official account in the early afternoon.
“What a joke. HISD leadership is a disaster,” read the tweet. “Their self-centered ineptitude has failed the children they are supposed to educate. If ever there was a school board that needs to be taken over and reformed, it’s HISD. Their students & parents deserve change.”
The comments come as Houston faces potentially major sanctions — either a state takeover of its locally elected school board or forced campus closures — if four chronically low-performing schools do not all meet state academic standards this year. Texas Education Commissioner Mike Morath, who is appointed by Abbott, strongly has suggested he would replace Houston’s school board before closing schools — and Abbott’s tweet further reinforces such speculation.
Houston trustees have been roundly panned in recent months for their behavior during heated board meetings, leading to calls for state intervention from some community members and political leaders.
Last April, two people were arrested following a scuffle with district police after Board President Rhonda Skillern-Jones ordered the audience removed from a raucous board meeting in which trustees contemplated surrendering control of 10 campuses to a charter school network. In October, trustees lobbed personal attacks and claims of racism minutes before five board members abruptly voted to replace Lathan, giving their four fellow trustees no advance notice of their intentions. Trustees later reinstated Lathan after her chosen replacement, former Houston superintendent Abelardo Saavedra, backed out because he deemed the board dysfunctional.
Critics of Houston’s school board also point to its failure to remedy academic failings at several of the district’s lowest-performing campuses, all of which serve children in high-poverty neighborhoods. Kashmere High School, on the city’s northeast side, has failed to meet state academic standards for nine consecutive years, the longest streak in Texas.
Houston ISD Trustee Sue Deigaard said Abbott’s tweet reflects an all-too-common sentiment among many exasperated community members.
“I think anybody on the outside looking in probably shares this thought,” Deigaard said. “It is within our power as a board to stave off state takeover, but we are going to have to earn it. I do believe we can if we get our act together as a board and truly focus on governance.”
It was not immediately clear why Abbott weighed in on Houston’s turbulence Thursday, during a relatively calm stretch in the district. Abbott aides did not respond to a written list of questions submitted by the Houston Chronicle following the tweet.
The Texas Legislature reconvenes for its 140-day session next week, with school finance reform identified as a top priority. However, Houston’s governance issues are unlikely to impact efforts to overhaul the state’s school funding methods. State Sen. Paul Bettencourt, R-Houston, plans to push legislation that would require at-large elections for some Houston trustees — all board members currently are elected from single-member districts — but there has not yet been a groundswell of support for the proposal.
Abbott’s post linked to a commentary authored by three community members and printed in the Chronicle that criticized Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner’s efforts to partner with the school district to operate several long-struggling campuses. Turner’s administration created a nonprofit designed to run schools in Houston, but trustees voted last month against seeking such partnerships with outside organizations. Such partnerships could allow Houston schools to stave off sanctions for two years.
The authors of the commentary — Sarah Becker, co-founder of HISD Parent Advocates; Travis McGee, a community leader and activist for We The People; and Kandice Webber, founding member of Houston Rising — also argued for taking legal action against the Texas Education Agency to prevent a state takeover of Houston’s board of trustees.
Some Houston school board members have admitted to some governance missteps, as well as eroding trust between district leadership and the local community.
However, they have argued that Houston remains in a relatively strong academic position. The district scored an 84 out of 100, equivalent to a “B” rating, under the state’s new academic accountability system, besting Dallas, Fort Worth, Aldine and several other large school districts. Houston also cut its number of schools failing to meet state academic standards from 58 in 2015 to 21 in 2018.
In addition, Houston trustees have not been accused of engaging in major financial or legal misconduct to date, which has led to state takeover of school boards in other Texas districts.
“To overturn the whole apple cart is really doing a disservice to all those kids in HISD,” said Dax Gonzalez, a spokesman for the Texas Association of School Boards. “What we would say is: work on more targeted reforms for those campuses that are struggling.”
A Houston ISD spokeswoman did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The district remains on winter break.
Turner declined through a spokeswoman to comment on Abbott’s tweet.