HOUSTON — Local leaders on Saturday in Houston's East End addressed community concerns over the Texas Education Agency's takeover of Houston ISD.
A panel discussion was held with the East End Alliance Saturday.
The panelist included Dani Hernandez, HISD school board president, Staci Childs with the State Board of Education and Houston Federation of Teachers President Jackie Anderson.
"What does a TEA takeover mean for HISD? What kind of its impacts going to have on teachers, parents, and students most importantly,” said moderator Joe Mendoza.
Mendoza is an HISD parent and the chair of the Harris County Democratic Party.
The event was an intimate chance to dive deeper into what’s next for the TEA’s takeover of the district.
"There are a lot of layers it’s important to continue to peel back layer after layer but focused first and foremost on student achievement,” said one HISD parent KHOU 11 spoke to.
The big takeaway from the meeting was how parents and those passionate about education can play an active role in the process.
"I think at the end of the day that’s very disappointing because the democratic process is not in effect because they are elected,” said Childs, talking about the board managers expected to replace the board of trustees on June 1.
"When a board of managers steps in, we can’t hold them to a level of accountability that we can hold our trustees to,” said Anderson.
The panel encouraged those who attended to apply for one of the board of managers seats.
They also stressed joining the push for TEA Commissioner, Mike Morath, to attend community meetings held by the state agency over the takeover. The two meetings that have already taken place were contentious with the crowd taking them over.
There are two more TEA-hosted meetings scheduled for the following dates:
- March 29 at Delmar Stadium
- March 30 at Kashmere High School
Parents at Saturday's Q&A said they walked away with a little more clarity.
"I thought it was very important that there was an emphasizes today on having quality people continue to be running for school board as well putting their name for a board of managers, if that is what ultimately happens in this situation," one parent said.