Takeover Look

The John Whitmire for Mayor Campaign put this out this morning:

John Whitmire announced today that former Houston City Councilmember James Rodriguez has endorsed him in his campaign for mayor of the City of Houston.

“As a former Houston city councilmember, I know city government’s job is to provide core basic services,” Rodriguez said. “John Whitmire will focus on better streets, improved drainage and reliable garbage pickup.”

Everyone knows Commentary is working for the Whitmire Campaign.

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As we head into the weekend, folks are wondering what a TEA takeover of HISD looks like.

This is from Fox 26 and the author of the legislation that provided the vehicle for the HISD takeover:

“I think I know how David felt against Goliath. I didn’t want to take over either. I wanted them to fix the schools. When I passed this law, I never thought this would happen. I thought they would fix the school,” says Rep. (Harold) Dutton.

Would Rep. Dutton consider doing what the mayor is proposing, writing a new law that says it’s not mandatory for the state to take over? “Well, I’d have to think about that. My question is how long are we going to wait until they fix the schools in Northeast Houston? How many generations of children do we have to lose,” Dutton asks.

Representative Dutton says he agrees the district has improved, but he says the problems in the failing schools still haven’t been fixed.

Here is what State Rep. Jarvis Johnson put out this morning:

Let’s be clear: state takeovers have never worked anywhere — much less for a district as large and diverse as Houston.

Who will replace the superintendent?

Who will replace the school board members?

Will they be a diverse group?

What will be their political backgrounds?

What rules will they go by?

Will the community have any input?

Will the takeover be a sort of dictatorship?

Are we headed into uncharted territory so to speak?

The idea that we are losing control of our schools is undemocratic if you ask Commentary.

I am thinking the GOP is biting off a bit more than they can chew on this call.

There will be an anti-takeover event this afternoon at Discovery Green.

The featured photo is the HISD Board officers. Next week, they will likely be the former Board officers.

Ouch!