Austin ISD is staring down the possibility of a state takeover after two of its middle schools racked up five consecutive years of failing accountability scores, and on Wednesday a room full of Austin parents and former officials got an unvarnished look at what that could mean by studying Houston's experience. The warnings came from people who lived through it: a current Houston ISD trustee stripped of real power, a former Texas Education Agency official, and researchers tracking enrollment and staffing numbers that have moved in one direction since the state stepped in.
A Panel Built on Hard-Won Experience
The discussion, moderated by Acacia Coronado at Studio 919 in Austin, brought together Dani Hernandez, Noelita Lugo and Alejandro Delgado, according to Austin Current. Hernandez currently serves on Houston ISD's elected board and, per the outlet, has had no real decision-making power since the state takeover began. Lugo is an Austin ISD parent and former elected trustee, while Delgado is a former deputy commissioner of operations at the Texas Education Agency and an Austin ISD parent.
Delgado told the panel that Texas districts on the brink of a state takeover should not have to face Houston ISD's fate, the outlet reports, and he said he was worried about the loss of community trust he witnessed in Houston. Some Texas lawmakers have called for Houston's takeover to serve as a blueprint for other struggling districts, per the same account, but panelists at the Wednesday event said the state takeover has instead harmed the district.
Austin's Numbers, and What Triggered the Warning
Austin ISD earned an overall district rating of B for 2025-26, with a score of 81 that marked the district's highest mark in four years, according to Community Impact. The district reported 61 campuses rated A or B this year, up from 47 the year before. Even so, Community Impact identified Austin ISD as the only Texas district that may be subject to state intervention based on the 2026 ratings, and Austin Current reports the district currently has 31 schools rated D or F.
The trigger for possible state action involves Burnet and Webb middle schools. Community Impact reported that the two campuses each earned a fifth consecutive F, which would meet the threshold for state action, while the Texas Tribune described both schools as having received preliminary fifth failing ratings for 2025-26 — leaving open whether those scores are final. The Texas Education Agency is weighing a state takeover of Austin ISD, Austin Current reports, though the dossier of evidence reviewed does not establish what intervention, if any, the agency will ultimately choose. Delgado also said at the event that Austin ISD's own school improvement dashboard, published recently, was five years late.
What Happened in Houston Since 2023
Houston ISD offers the clearest comparison available, since the Texas Education Agency replaced its elected school board with a state-appointed board of managers and installed a new superintendent in June 2023, according to a University of Houston report. The district has experienced high teacher turnover and an exodus of students under state control, Austin Current reports, and panelists described it as a mass exodus of both families and teachers during the takeover period.
The university's numbers back that up. As of 2024-25, Houston ISD was serving 13,208 fewer students than in 2022-23, with enrollment declines driven by students moving to neighboring districts and charter schools or leaving Texas public education altogether. The share of students exiting Texas public schools doubled from 4.4% in 2016-17 to 8.1% in 2024-25, and ninth-grade enrollment alone fell 15.1% over two years — the steepest drop among high school grades, per the same report.
The teaching workforce shifted just as sharply. The number of first-year teachers in Houston ISD rose 64.7% after the takeover, while the share of uncertified teachers climbed from 0.3% in 2016-17 to 19.8% in 2024-25, the university found. Only 58.6% of teachers stayed on their campuses from 2023-24 to 2024-25, compared with retention rates above 70% before the state stepped in. Houston ISD also had a failed bond measure, Austin Current notes.
Scripted Lessons and Rising Test Scores
State-appointed leaders in Houston implemented a regimented class schedule that relies on standardized curricula and coaching to help teachers teach, according to Austin Current's account of the panel. That schedule may improve test performance, panelists said, while also making children anxious to attend school. KUT reports the reform model, built on standardized slideshows, work packets and a minute-by-minute teaching schedule, has expanded from 28 schools in 2023 to more than 130 by 2026.
Toni Templeton, a research scientist at the University of Houston Education Research Center, said many Houston parents, students, teachers and principals left the district but that it need not happen that way elsewhere, per Austin Current. She also warned that students switching districts can disrupt their educational trajectory. Houston ISD students did improve their STAAR passing scores after the takeover, but a researcher cautioned per KUT that those test gains might not always reflect equivalent improvements in math or reading achievement — a concern Hernandez echoed, worrying that Houston's test-score gains may not reflect long-term learning, Austin Current reports.
Lessons From Elsewhere in Texas
Houston is not an isolated case. Since 2020, the Texas Education Agency has installed its own hand-picked leaders in eight districts, with at least 10 more, including Austin ISD, described as at risk of takeover, according to the Texas Observer. Beaumont ISD's superintendent told ProPublica that his district is implementing a model very similar to Houston's because of its reported success, and ProPublica cites researcher Domingo Morel's finding that Texas has had more school district takeovers than any other state since 1989.
Not every district facing poor ratings gets the full Houston treatment, though. In Wichita Falls, the Texas Education Agency instead appointed a conservator to monitor the district's progress while allowing it to keep its superintendent and elected school board, KUT reported. University of Houston researchers have cautioned that districts adopting a Houston-style strategy could see similar population shifts — both declining enrollment and a more inexperienced, uncertified teaching workforce.
What Houston's Trustee Told Austin
Hernandez urged Austin community members to try to influence the state's eventual selection of district leaders if intervention comes, according to Austin Current. She said residents should push for a leader willing to listen and should try to have a say in who ends up running the district. It's advice born from watching her own board lose its authority — a dynamic Delgado says he fears could cost Austin the kind of community trust he saw erode in Houston.
Austin Current is an independent nonprofit newsroom supported by readers and has no paywall. The outlet reported on the panel discussion.
