Texas has taken over more local public school districts than any other state in the country, with the Texas Education Agency installing its own hand-picked leaders in eight districts since 2020. Four of those takeovers occurred this spring alone, and at least 10 additional districts are now at risk of state intervention, including the Austin Independent School District as of last week.
The expansion follows a pattern established when Commissioner Mike Morath appointed Mike Miles in 2023 to oversee Houston ISD, the state's largest district with 273 campuses. Both Morath and Miles have close professional ties to several newly appointed superintendents in taken-over districts, many of whom previously worked under Miles during his tenure as superintendent in Dallas ISD and later in Houston.
The new appointees include Sandi Massey, who now leads Beaumont ISD in southeast Texas, and Ena Meyers, TEA's appointee for Lake Worth ISD near Fort Worth. Both also have connections to Third Future Schools, a Colorado-based charter network that Miles led before becoming Houston superintendent. In April, the Texas Observer reported that Miles maintained an ongoing $120,000 annual consulting contract with the charter network, an arrangement that likely violated a new statewide ban on public school administrators' moonlighting. After media inquiries, Miles canceled the contract.
What the Left Is Saying
Democratic legislators and progressive education advocates have expressed concern about the rapid expansion of state takeovers under Morath's leadership. State Representative James Talarico, a Democrat from Austin, has previously argued that the low bar for triggering a takeover—five consecutive failing ratings at just one school within Houston ISD's 273 campuses—is overly punitive toward large urban districts.
Maria Benzon, who was elected to the Houston ISD board in November but is not permitted to serve during the ongoing state takeover, warned that districts with new leaders connected to Miles should prepare for significant disruption. "If anything doesn't align with improving test scores, it will be taken away," Benzon said, pointing to Houston ISD's elimination of librarian positions and conversion of some libraries into spaces used partly for students with behavioral issues as examples.
Education advocacy groups have also raised alarms about the displacement of locally elected school boards and the expansion of charter schools following takeovers. The Texas American Federation of Teachers has called for greater accountability measures requiring TEA appointees to demonstrate community input before implementing major policy changes.
What the Right Is Saying
Supporters of the takeover strategy argue that intervention is necessary when districts fail to improve student outcomes over multiple years. Republican legislators have pointed to Houston ISD's latest academic ratings as evidence that the approach can yield results, noting the district had no F-rated campuses and fewer D-rated campuses compared with previous years under state management.
Houston ISD officials, in a statement to the Texas Observer, said the district did not achieve better ratings by maintaining the status quo but "made difficult decisions" to improve academic performance. District spokespersoned highlighted that the majority of Houston ISD campuses are now rated A or B under the state's accountability system.
Conservative education reformers have praised Miles for his focus on standardized testing outcomes and his willingness to close chronically underperforming schools. State Senator Brandon Creighton, a Republican who represents parts of Houston, has defended TEA's authority to intervene in failing districts, arguing that students in low-performing schools cannot wait years for incremental improvements while local boards fail to act.
What the Numbers Show
Texas has led the nation in district-level state takeovers since 1989, according to research by Domingo Morel, associate professor of political science and public service at New York University. The pace of interventions has accelerated during Morath's tenure as commissioner.
Under current Texas law, TEA can take control of districts with multiple failing school ratings or governance issues, replacing both the superintendent and elected board members. Since 2015, a district can trigger intervention if just one campus accumulates five consecutive failing state ratings—a threshold that Houston ISD reached despite its overall size and many high-performing schools.
The 2021 Texas Legislature passed additional restrictions making it harder for districts to appeal takeovers by barring them from using public funds to challenge state interventions in court. Third Future Schools, the charter network connected to Miles, is expanding around the state as districts turn campuses over to the nonprofit's Texas subsidiary, often as a means to delay potential state takeover.
The Bottom Line
The expansion of Texas education commissioner Mike Morath's intervention strategy raises fundamental questions about local school governance and accountability. With Austin ISD now at risk and dozens of districts under or facing state management, the outcomes in already-taken-over districts will likely shape the debate over educational authority in Texas for years to come.
What to watch: Whether Houston ISD's improved ratings translate into long-term academic gains or reflect short-term testing strategies; whether TEA appointees in Beaumont, Lake Worth and other districts adopt similar policies as Miles pursued in Dallas and Houston; and whether Democratic legislators pursue changes to the state takeover threshold during the next legislative session. The role of Third Future Schools in Texas education also warrants close monitoring as the charter network continues expanding through agreements with cash-strapped local districts.