Across the state

What the state is doing — and where Austin sits

The Commissioner of the Texas Education Agency (TEA) — who directs these interventions — is appointed by the Governor, not elected.³¹

TEA has shown a growing willingness to replace elected boards with appointed managers in districts tied to campuses with chronically "unacceptable" ratings.³⁰

Houston ISD

Since June 2023

Texas' largest district — state-appointed superintendent (Mike Miles) and board of managers; takeover extended through 2027.¹⁷ What Houston families say →

Fort Worth ISD

Board named Mar 2026

Elected board replaced with a state-appointed board of managers and superintendent (district notified Oct 2025).¹⁸

Lake Worth ISD

Board named Apr 2026

State-named superintendent and board of managers installed (district notified Dec 2025).¹⁹

Austin ISD?

Could be this fall

We could learn a takeover is triggered as soon as this fall: ratings are final in late summer, and — after appeals — TEA can notify the district it has met the threshold.²²

A growing trend

~10district school boards replaced by the state since 2000²⁰

5districts have hit the five-year trigger — Fort Worth (2024), then Beaumont, Connally, Lake Worth & Wichita Falls (2025)²⁹

~8districts now under, or entering, state control in 2026–27²¹

One rating from the trigger

Ten districts statewide sat at four consecutive years of "unacceptable" ratings in 2025 — one rating from forced intervention — on TEA's official Consecutive Unacceptable List.²⁹

Austin ISD

Dobie, Webb & Burnet middle schools — four consecutive unacceptable ratings.²⁹

Manor ISD

An Austin-area neighbor also at four consecutive unacceptable ratings.²⁹

Eight more across Texas

Coldspring-Oakhurst, Ector County (Odessa), Fort Worth, Greenville, Hempstead, Ralls, Spring & Waco ISDs.²⁹

A closer look: what the takeover has meant in Houston

Houston ISD — taken over in 2023 — is the clearest preview of what could come to Austin. The state points to higher ratings; the community documents what those numbers have cost.

What the state points to

Two years in, TEA reported Houston had zero F-rated schools in 2024–25 (down from dozens), with STAAR scores up across many grades — the case officials make for takeovers.³²

What it has cost

Under the test-centric "New Education System," about 4,700 teachers left in year one and 3,100 more in year two (roughly 1 in 4 are now uncertified); dozens of libraries were converted, some into disciplinary rooms; schools closed; and enrollment fell by 17,000+.³³³⁴

Hear it from Houston: Community Voices for Public Education — the parents, educators, and students who organized against the HISD takeover — document the day-to-day impact and how they're pushing back.³⁵

Go deeper: a neighbor's guide

The takeover zine

Crestview neighbor Dan Dawer — a UT Austin researcher studying education policy and state accountability systems³⁶ — made a plain-language zine on what a takeover means and how to fight back. Download the zine (PDF) →

Listen: the Education X podcast

Dan joined the Education X podcast in May 2026 to talk through the Austin ISD takeover threat. Listen to the episode →³⁷