A state takeover would hand Austin ISD to unelected officials — putting our students, teachers, and neighborhood schools at risk.
Burnet, Dobie, and Webb have each failed four years in a row and the state just rejected Austin ISD's proposal to give the schools extra time to improve their scores. If any one of these schools receives one more failing score it could trigger a state takeover.
The state takeover could be announced as early as August 2026.
The takeover could start as early as September 2026.
There are very real problems in Austin ISD, but a takeover by unelected managers is not the right answer.
A state takeover replaces a district's locally elected school board with a state-appointed board of managers and installs a new superintendent. This strips the community of local control, allowing the state to make sweeping, controversial changes to curriculum, staffing, and daily operations.
Lessons from the Houston ISD state takeover
In Houston ISD, 130 out of 274 campuses were converted to New Education System (NES) schools. Here are some of the changes that were implemented in those schools:
Teachers must follow a script and use AI-generated, error-ridden district slideshows. Students take a timed 10 minute test every day in four classes at the end of each teacher presentation.
Students who require special education services are not receiving accommodations and support due to the new curriculum’s time constraints.
To boost STAAR scores, the district kept high-achieving 8th graders out of Algebra I and placed them into lower-level math instead. Many 9th graders were blocked from biology classes as well.
130 schools had their librarians and libraries eliminated and turned into Zoom Discipline Centers.
8,000 teachers have been forced out of HISD in the first two years alone and the number of uncertified teachers has gone up from 1% to 20%.
Some schools are no longer allowing classroom decorations, social emotional learning, coloring for young children, or even first day get-to-know-you activities.
Some schools have lost their PTOs and don't allow parent volunteers. Most schools have lost community programs.
And it doesn't stop at the NES campuses. Even the schools that weren't converted to the New Education System are seeing many of the same practices and pressures spread across the district.
A decision could come within months. If we can build a base of parents, teachers, and neighbors who are informed and connected, we can be ready to fight back against the possible changes coming.
Here are some examples of how organized Houston parents were able to fight back successfully.
When the district cut recess at NES schools, parents emailed and called the board of managers in force. The public pressure and press coverage led to schedule changes that restored recess for their children.
Source: NBC NewsWhen the district planned to use flawed screenings to push out nearly half of its principals, parents and educators filled a board meeting and raised legal objections. After the pushback, the district agreed the screenings would not be used to fire principals.
Source: Houston LandingWhen the district moved to clear out school libraries, parents organized, packed board meetings, and chanted "libraries in every school." After the public pressure and press coverage, the district agreed to keep books in those spaces.
Source: KHOUBecause we know what has happened in Houston and other districts that have faced takeovers, we have a major advantage. Instead of reacting, we can start building the relationships, resources, and organization capacity before a takeover happens.