Texas Education Commissioner to Decide
Texas Education Commissioner Mike Morath will decide whether to close two underperforming Austin public schools or replace the district's elected leaders
Chronic academic underperformance at two Austin public schools has put the district of nearly 70,000 students at risk of severe state sanctions. Texas Education Commissioner Mike Morath must decide whether to close the struggling schools or replace the locally elected school trustees and superintendent with leaders of his choosing.
This intervention, known as a state takeover, occurs when the Texas Education Agency commissioner removes democratically elected local school trustees and appoints a board of managers to assume school board duties. These duties include approving budgets and tax rates, setting district policies on safety and instruction, and hiring or replacing the superintendent.
Takeovers are triggered by persistent academic struggles, financial mismanagement, or systemic corruption. A 2015 law made it easier for the Texas Education Agency to intervene when campuses fail state academic standards, with five consecutive Fs at a single campus triggering state action. The commissioner must then either close the school or replace the district’s elected school board with an appointed board of managers.
The campuses that trigger districtwide takeovers have predominantly served Black, Latino, or low-income students. State Rep. Harold Dutton, who grew up in Houston and attended Wheatley High School, the school that triggered the takeover in Houston ISD, said he wrote the 2015 law to force districts and the state to reckon with long-struggling schools.
The ratings basis for recent takeovers largely comes from the State of Texas Assessments of Academic Readiness (STAAR), which is being phased out due to concerns it creates excessive student stress and consumes too much teaching time. It will be replaced with new assessments.
A board of managers must be primarily made up of local residents who live within the district’s boundaries and can apply for the position. Ideal candidates, according to past agency job descriptions, have experience in parent or neighborhood advocacy, social work, psychology, business, finance, or law. Their essential duties include evaluating the superintendent and preparing locally elected trustees to resume their responsibilities. Managers must hold public meetings under the Texas Open Meetings Act, while trustees may serve in an advisory capacity without decision-making power.
Commissioner-appointed managers typically remain in place for two to six years, depending on how quickly the district meets academic and exit goals set by the state commissioner. After two years, state law allows the commissioner to restore local control if the failing campus earns passing grades on accountability ratings for two consecutive years. The commissioner may also extend the takeover.
The Marlin school district, east of Waco, was under state control for seven years before the Texas Education Agency began relinquishing control to the elected school board in February 2024.
To avoid a takeover, districts can partner with charter schools or nonprofits to manage underperforming campuses under a 2017 law that provides additional funding for such arrangements. Austin ISD officials attempted to partner with the nonprofit Texas Council for International Studies, but agency officials rejected the bid, citing the group’s lack of a proven record in academic turnaround.
Research on school takeovers presents mixed results. New Orleans and Lawrence, Massachusetts saw academic gains and higher graduation rates after interventions. However, a study of takeovers in dozens of districts between 2010 and 2018 found no evidence of improved student reading and math performance up to nearly a decade later. A Brookings Institute analysis found takeovers were especially harmful to student achievement in predominantly Black communities.
During the Houston ISD takeover, state-appointed leaders implemented scripted, standardized lessons and increased teacher pay, citing improved test results and progress on the state’s A-F accountability ratings as evidence of success. Yet the district also experienced a teacher exodus and declining student enrollment.
