HISD takeover is center stage as American Federation of Teachers convention begins in Houston

HOUSTON, Texas (KTRK) — The state takeover of HISD is center stage as educators from across the country flock to Houston for the American Federation of Teachers national convention.

The convention kicks off Monday at the George R. Brown Convention Center, but the AFT organized a pre-convention panel discussion on Sunday.

During the discussion, the HISD takeover was universally panned.

“This is a power grab,” Zeph Capo, president of the Texas American Federation of Teachers, said.

“We had a wonderful school community and it has been torn apart,” Jessica Campos, whose three daughters attend HISD schools, said.

Campos said she’s watched helplessly as the state-appointed superintendent makes changes without an elected school board to push back.

“Parents are not allowed to have communication with the teachers. We lost our library,” Campos said.

In June, Superintendent Mike Miles celebrated the strides he said he’s made since taking the reins at HISD, pointing to improvements in high school test scores.

“If we keep up growth like this, we’ll be able to transition out into an elected board soon,” Miles said at the time.

Despite Miles’ enthusiasm, many at Sunday’s panel discussion doubted his goal and questioned the test scores.

“Are these scores authentic? Are students, in fact, doing better?” Capo said. “There needs to be a deeper dive into these scores before we say that it’s actually working.”

The AFT is also targeting school vouchers, which are public funds given to families to use towards private school tuition.

While there isn’t currently a school voucher program in Texas, Gov. Greg Abbott has voiced support for one. The teachers union fear vouchers could be introduced when the legislature convenes next year.

“Mostly what vouchers do is they prop up what I call subprime schools,” Josh Cowen, an education policy professor at Michigan State University, said. “They’re not very healthy private schools. The private schools that are doing well, the elite academies that we hear about in the movies and the news, they don’t want vouchers, they don’t take vouchers.”

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