By: Travis McGee
On June 1, 2023, the Texas Education Agency (T.E.A.) took full control of the Houston Independent School District. Even though we have been historically underfunded by the State of Texas, our taxes make up approximately 90% of HISD’s budget. This does not include the fact that additional monies in the hundreds of millions (known as RECAPTURE) have to be sent back since we are considered a property-rich state. How was the state able to take over the largest school district in the state of Texas, you might ask? The state was able to do so through horrible legislation authored, co-authored, and voted on by your elected employees.
HB 1842 passed in 2015 states, “Any campus 5 years or more [designated] IR (Improvement Required) as of August 15, 2018, the T.E.A. shall appoint a board of managers, close the campus, or order an alternative management of the campus,” which would be a Charter $chool network. SB 1882 passed in 2017 states the campus has to partner with nonprofits, institutions of higher learning, or CHARTER SCHOOL$. Both bills have one thing in common, Charter $chools. ey are considered businesses that should be able to fund themselves without our tax dollars. e schools that we pay taxes on are our business. In business, you should never fund or provide resources or buildings to your competition in order to put yourself out of business with your own money. Bonds and charter schools equal big money!
Now that we know how the Texas state takeover was even legally possible, let’s talk about another bond. I don’t mean James Bond, even though it’s been several of them as well. If We e People no longer have the right to vote our own elected employees in and out, why would We e People give the dictatorship of the T.E.A. another blank check known as a bond? e T.E.A. (Take Everything Away) doesn’t have to listen to constituents or get their input about anything, including how to spend their tax dollars. e infrastructure is now in place to charter the entire district when and if they decide to do so.
They have SUPPORT from the state, a state-appointed superintendent, a board of managers, our money, our property tax, buildings, and dictatorship. Previous bonds have passed every four to six years for the past 26 years. In 1998 (678 million), 2002 (808 million), 2007 (805 million), and 2012 (1.9 billion) totaling 4.3 billion in 14 years. However, a bond passing doesn’t mean that the schools were built or constructed in a timely fashion. Some of the same schools have even closed. This may be a different bond with a much bigger price tag, but this particular bond has legislation, a state-appointed superintendent, and a board of managers that has the power to do whatever they choose to do with or without We The People’s approval. Even though the N.E.S.’s (Not Even Sure) system (experiment) hasn’t been proven, they are considering a bond that could possibly exceed 5 billion dollars.
