Taking advantage of a recently passed state law, Texas Governor Greg Abbott has transferred control of the Houston Independent School District to the state’s Texas Education Agency. Claiming the takeover was “unfortunate but necessary”, Abbott replaced the district’s superintendent and elected school Board members, and in a move that adds insult to injury (and seems Orwellian), fired librarians and closed libraries, converting them to multipurpose computer rooms to be used, in part, for discipline. Thursday 8 O’Clock Buzz host Tony Castañeda welcomes David DeMatthews, associate professor in the Department of Educational Leadership and Policy at the University of Texas at Austin, to learn more about the takeover and its potential to cause longterm negative outcomes.

Photo courtesy of Tim Gouw on Unsplash.

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