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Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner continues to express his opposition to the Texas Education Agency’s (TEA) takeover of the Houston Independent School District (HISD) even as state intervention has officially begun.
June 1 marked the first official day in which Texas’ largest public school district is under TEA control.
According to a report from Houston FOX affiliate KRIV, Turner, who’s in his final months in the city’s highest office, leveled criticisms over the takeover a couple of days after the first meeting of the state-appointed HISD Board of Managers, tweeting that the move is “wrong.”
“The lack of transparency/community engagement leading to the handpicked selection of superintendent and [board] of managers – wrong,” the mayor posted. “Not providing any additional resources for the schools and teachers – wrong. Process – wrong, [the] community won’t accept.”
The board of managers approved a temporary contract to Superintendent Mike Miles on Thursday, as well as elected its slate of officers for the 2023-2024 academic year, the first of the takeover, per a report from Houston Daily.
Miles, a previous superintendent of the Dallas Independent School District (DISD), was also selected by the TEA to helm HISD.
Turner insinuated earlier this year that Miles would replace Millard House II, who is now in a similar position at a Washington, D.C.-area public school district in Maryland.
The mayor purportedly blasted a piece of legislation that seeks to rein in the powers the state’s largest cities have in his critique of the TEA, according to KRIV.
“The state cannot take over the largest school district, replace the superintendent who by most was improving the district and then (pass) a super pre-emption bill on cities and expect people to say, ‘OK, now live with it,’” Turner tweeted. “Not the formula for collaboration.”
A protest was held at the board of managers’ inaugural meeting, with State Rep. Ron Reynolds (D-Missouri City) among the slew of people who spoke to the crowd.