By: Travis McGee
On Thursday August 18, 2022, at 9 am another attempt was made to Charter our tax funded schools again. 98% of the speakers whether in person or virtual said ”No“ and that means our Elected EMPLOYEES should say, “Hell NO.”
Regardless of who the superintendent is or who’s sitting on the elected school board partnerships, charters, and closures keep coming up year after year, bond after bond, and lie after lie. There isn’t any trust when our Board can’t be trusted. It seems as if compensation is being chosen over education, even though 90% of Houston Independent School District’s revenue/budget comes from our local tax dollars.
Four years ago, April 24, 2018, the” Death of A School District Protest” took place at the Hattie Mae White Administration Building located at 4400 W. 18th Street in Houston, TX. This was the largest organized protest as well as the largest speakers list in HISD’s history. We were there from 4pm until after midnight. Our elected board wanted to hand over 10 of our schools to charter schools in which some of those same charter schools shut down shortly after we shut their board meeting down on April 24, 2018. Energized for STEM Academy Inc., which was formerly B.H. Grimes Elementary School, was the Charter affiliate that both a former HISD board member and a former NAACP president both sat on its board.
Our former HISD Trustees allowed schools to close and become charter schools on their watch. They would have also become sitting board members of what happened to be the failed 2018 charter takeover of the 10 schools: Blackshear, Dogan, Highland Heights, Mading, and Wesley elementary schools; Henry Middle School; Woodson K-8; and Kashmere, Wheatley and Worthing high schools. Most if not all of our elected employees were working against, We the People, remaining silent, or were M.I.A. Our school trustees didn’t put up much of a fight to prevent it. Our state representatives either wrote bad legislation or voted for bad legislation. Either way, it wasn’t in the best interest of their constituents. Our local NAACP branch president saw dollar signs as well. Our teacher’s union was trying to bring in out of state charters to our district.
NOTE: If all the beneficiaries listed above would fight for our Schools like they support BONDs and CHARTERS our school would be in great shape.
The 4 schools that they closed in 2011 were GRIMES (recognized), RHOADS (exemplary), MC DADE, STEVENSON were said to save the district money because of an alleged deficit of 171 million dollars when in reality it on saved then 1.6 million. They actually spent more money closing the schools vs keeping them open some of these school got millions in renovation from the 2012 BOND only to be closed. I know personally that they tried to bribe the kids, parents, and community with Barbeque, watermelon, and red soda; new uniforms, and etc.
Our tax bill says Houston Independent School District and not Houston Independent School District and Friends . We The People says, NO PARTNERSHIP$$$$$$$$$$, NO CHARTER$$$$$$$$, NO CLOSURE$$$$$$$$$$$$
