A day before the Texas Education Agency released its 2026 school district and campus scores, Austin families gathered in front of Eastside Early College High School to protest a potential state takeover that those scores could trigger.
“We’re not here to tell you our schools or our district are perfect. We know the work in front of us,” said Lily McClure, a mom who advocates with Keep Austin Schools Independent, a parent-led organization that opposes the potential state takeover. “We asked for help, and they’re giving us a takeover.”
The TEA could take over the Austin Independent School District this fall after two middle schools — Burnet and Webb — received a fifth consecutive F rating in the 2026 scores. The dramatic intervention, which would be among the most consequential actions the state can take against a school district, would sideline elected trustees. In their place, Texas Education Commissioner Mike Morath would appoint a board of managers to run the district and could replace the superintendent.
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Texas Education Agency Commissioner Mike Morath speaks during a news conference about A-F accountability ratings for the 2025-26 school year at Woodland Acres Middle School in Galena Park ISD in Houston, Friday, Aug. 14, 2026.
Raquel Natalicchio/Houston Chronicle
Austin ISD would join six other districts currently under state control because of academic failings. Houston ISD, with its 170,000 students, has attracted the most attention since the state intervened in 2023. The TEA has also taken over Shepherd ISD because of chronic academic problems at individual campuses and Marlin ISD for districtwide academic issues. Last year, the agency announced it would intervene in Fort Worth, Beaumont, Connally and Lake Worth ISDs for academic reasons. Marlin ISD has since returned to local control under an elected school board.
Despite pushback from residents in other school districts over the loss of local control and controversial policies enacted by state appointees, Morath has stood behind state takeovers as a necessary and successful intervention.
“The evidence in Texas is that state intervention has consistently raised the quality in our schools where this has happened,” Morath said the day new A-F scores were released. But researchers who have studied takeovers nationwide say the results are mixed at best.
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“There have been some successes in high-visibility, high-spending state takeovers,” said Melissa Arnold Lyon, an assistant professor of public policy at the University at Albany who has studied dozens of takeovers, including successes in Massachusetts and Louisiana. “But on average, state takeover has not increased academic performance and has exacerbated educational inequality.”
In a statement, TEA spokesman Jake Kobersky said Texas’ model for takeovers has created long-term success and is fundamentally different from what other states have done in similar situations.
“Importantly, Texas’ model seeks to establish common expectations and practices across an intervention district, extending improvement efforts beyond a limited number of schools or programs,” Kobersky wrote. “This districtwide approach allows instructional, talent and accountability systems to reinforce one another across schools, increasing the likelihood that students have access to strong instruction regardless of campus assignment.”
The full impact of such interventions in Texas offers a more complicated picture.
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Carlos Sanchez hugs his 8-year-old son, Shem, as he drops him off for his first day of third grade at Casey Elementary School on Tuesday, Aug. 18, 2026. Casey Elementary is part of the Austin Independent School District and would be affected by a state takeover.
Jay Janner/Austin American-Statesman
Texas results
If Morath decides to take over Austin ISD, the school system’s families, educators and community could experience dramatic upheaval. The state’s 2023 takeover of Houston ISD brought academic improvements, but also widespread teacher turnover, enrollment loss and parent protests over policies like standardized curriculum, school closures and the transformation of libraries into “team centers,” where higher-performing students complete additional work while their classmates receive more instruction.
A 2015 law allows the state to take over school districts when a campus receives five consecutive F-ratings. House Bill 1842 took effect about six months before Morath became education commissioner. Under the law, the commissioner must order either the appointment of a board of managers to govern the school district or the closure of the campus. In most cases, however, the state has opted to remove local control rather than close the school.
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During such interventions, Morath often replaces the superintendent with an agency appointee who runs the district under a new vision and directives.
Morath’s choice for Houston ISD, former Dallas ISD Superintendent Mike Miles, ushered in controversial reforms that sparked widespread protests from staff and families. Miles’ educational philosophy hinges on a rigid, militaristic schedule and prioritizes academic gains measured by frequent assessments. Other reforms included paying high-performing teachers to work at struggling campuses and standardizing the curriculum.
Houston ISD Superintendent Mike Miles speaks to reporters during a press conference Friday, Aug. 25, 2023, at James Madison High School in Houston.
Jon Shapley/Houston Chronicle
Cher Dawson speaks during the third community meeting hosted by TEA, to talk about the HISD Board of Managers process at Delmar Stadium on Wednesday, March 29, 2023 in Houston.
Karen Warren/Houston Chronicle
Houston Independent School District Superintendent Mike Miles talks to a Audrey H. Lawson Middle School student while visiting classes Wednesday, Sept. 6, 2023 in Houston.
Yi-Chin Lee/Houston Chronicle
Morath and other state leaders have pointed to successes in Houston ISD, the largest district in the state, which came under state control after one high school received failing ratings for five consecutive years.
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At the time of intervention, Houston ISD had 56 F-rated schools. In 2025, no campuses received an F rating. But in 2026, four campuses earned F grades. Student performance declined across multiple subjects this year — the first such decline since the takeover began. Still, Miles said he’s confident the district’s more than 270 campuses will have an A or B by 2027, the Houston Chronicle reported.
The TEA rates schools and districts annually on an A-F report card in which campuses can earn points out of 100. The grades are largely based on student performance on the State of Texas Assessments of Academic Readiness, or STAAR, test, but also include measures of how well districts prepare students for college, a career or the military.
Despite Houston’s 2026 F ratings, Morath has continued to throw his support behind the intervention.
Earlier this month, Morath said that he has “every confidence that those four schools will not be multi-year failing schools, because you have a local school system that has fundamentally changed the way that it’s organized to no longer allow that kind of long-term neglect to occur,” according to Houston Chronicle reporting.
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Since 2023, the district has reduced the number of D- or F-rated schools from 121 to 12 and increased the number of A-rated campuses from 35 to 89. Houston ISD’s district rating also improved 13 points since the takeover began — from a 72, or low C, to an 85, or B.
Some education and parent advocates have questioned how Houston ISD achieved the higher ratings, noting that some of the improvement came from efforts to enroll thousands of students in college preparation courses, which boosts state letter grades without necessarily improving student learning.
However, student performance has improved on the state’s math and reading tests. Between 2023 and 2026, the rate of third through eighth grade students who met reading grade-level standards increased from 43% to 55%. Similarly, 37% of students met math standards in 2023, compared with 47% this year.
HISD Superintendent Mike Miles goes over his slides during a school board meeting at Hattie Mae White Education Center in Houston on Thursday, Aug. 13, 2026.
Elizabeth Conley/Houston Chronicle
Chasing academic gains
State management also improved results in Shepherd ISD, a 2,000-student district about 50 miles north of Houston that the state took control of in 2020. The district is expected to return fully to local control next year. The share of students meeting grade-level standards in both math and reading generally improved. The rate of third through eighth grade students testing on grade level in reading increased from 19% in 2019 to 35% in 2026, while the rate in math increased from 23% to 33%.
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However, improvement in Marlin ISD, an 800-student district near Waco, has been more mixed.
The state took control of the district in 2017 for academic failings and returned it to local control this year. While reading performance has increased — from 11% of elementary and middle school children meeting standards in 2017 to 26% in 2026 — math performance has returned to 2017 levels, after some gains. About 18% of children met grade-level standards this year, the same as in in 2017. These rates still fall far below state averages.
After years of modest academic growth under state management, Marlin ISD’s districtwide letter grade was a D, or 66, this year, down from a 73 in 2025. One of its two campuses graded in 2026, Marlin Elementary School, received an F rating.
Enrollment changes during a state takeover have also been varied. Student numbers in Marlin and Shepherd ISDs remained relatively steady under TEA management, but Houston ISD’s enrollment dropped by about 8%.
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The TEA has pushed back on labeling Texas’ model for district-level intervention as a “takeover” because the districts still have a school board, appointed by the state, running the district, Kobersky said.
Other states “concentrated power in a state-appointed superintendent that was a direct report to either the state education commissioner or governor,” Kobersky said. “In each of these instances, the scope of the intervention was limited, and the state maintained some degree of direct operational control of the districts.”
He argued that this model differs from Texas’ because “while the elected school board is temporarily sidelined, a locally appointed Board of Managers is selected to govern the district” from among people who live in or have a connection to the school system.
Kobersky also said the board, rather than state leaders, makes operational, financial and instructional decisions, that Texas interventions typically are shorter and that the appointed superintendent reports to the board, not the state education commissioner.
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Education Commissioner Mike Morath (right) listens to William James Middle School principal Michelle Guerra (left) and Fort Worth ISD Executive Director of School Leadership Kisha McDonald during a tour of William James Middle School in Fort Worth , August 28, 2025. Morath is visiting failing schools in Fort Worth ISD and evaluating campus leadership systems, instructional delivery and the rigor of the district’s curriculum as he considers whether to institute a state takeover in the district after multiple years of failing grades.
Tom Fox/Dallas Morning News
National research
Nationally, state takeovers have produced mixed results, and academic gains have often been difficult to sustain.
Since 2015, TEA has intervened in four districts for governance failures.
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Intervention has been proven to improve the fiscal health of struggling districts, according to researchers across the country. For example, a 2025 analysis of 104 districts found takeovers can improve district solvency and increase per-pupil spending.
However, academic improvement is harder to come by. While there have been examples of success, districts show little or no change on average, said Michael Hayes, an associate professor of public policy at Rutgers University who has studied the 2013 takeover of Camden City School District in New Jersey.
“Unlike a financial issue, there’s no theoretical reason why changing the governance structure of a school district is actually going to solve an academic issue,” Hayes said.
A district’s students are more likely to see academic growth during state control if scores are near the bottom of national averages, said Beth Schueler, an associate professor of education at Stanford University who has studied the impacts of dozens of state takeovers.
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School systems that tend to produce more moderate academic performance before a takeover, however, are less likely to see large gains in the long term, she said.
The effects also vary depending on the racial makeup of students in the district, said Domingo Morel, an associate professor of political science and public service at New York University. His 2018 book, “Takeover: Race, Education, and American Democracy,” analyzed takeovers from the 1980s onward, such as those in Newark, New Jersey and Central Falls, Rhode Island.
While districts with a majority of Black students tend to experience more negative academic results, some research indicates school systems with a majority of Hispanic students improve under state management, he said.
Parents and educators walk out carrying signs after the second of four community meetings the TEA is hosting where people can come ask questions and learn more about the state takeover of HISD at Chavez High School on Wednesday, March 22, 2023 in Houston.
Karen Warren/Houston Chronicle
The increasing number of takeovers in Texas is somewhat unusual for an intervention that’s typically a rare, last-ditch effort for districts with chronic academic, fiscal or governance problems. Since 2015, the agency has taken over seven districts because of academic issues.
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Outside of the 2015 law, the TEA has stepped into school districts because of governance or financial challenges, at times mandating school closures or district mergers. TEA has intervened in four districts for governance failures since 2015.
The growing reliance on takeovers as an intervention could mean Texas improves its track record at driving districtwide improvements over time, Schueler said. On the other hand, “taking on more could stretch them thin,” she said.
What does work?
Researchers say it’s hard to pin down a consistent answer for improving student outcomes.
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Austin ISD leaders have historically struggled to close academic gaps rooted in longstanding racial and economic inequities. The vast majority of the district’s 20 F-rated and 11 D-rated campuses are east of Interstate 35 or in Northeast Austin.
This year, 35 Austin ISD campuses improved by at least one letter grade. The district now has 61 A- or B-rated campuses, up from 53 in 2023, and 20 F-rated campuses, down from 30.
What actually works to improve outcomes depends largely on the district itself, Schueler said.
“What works for district A may just be different than the set of remedies you need for district B,” she said. “The source of the low performance may be different.”
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Miles Wheeles, 5, center, and his sister Matilda, 3, right, arrive with a friend for the first day of school at Casey Elementary School on Tuesday, Aug. 18, 2026.
Jay Janner/Austin American-Statesman
Some policies — such as extended time focused on math and reading or incentives to draw high-performing teachers to work at low-performing schools — have consistently proven successful in helping students grow academically.
Morath likely won’t announce his decision about Austin ISD until later this fall because the state doesn’t finalize letter grades until December. If he moves forward with a takeover, any changes new leaders may usher in likely wouldn’t materialize until next year.
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The priorities and academic vision of the new superintendent and board would be key to any policy shifts — and any academic progress, said Josh Bleiberg, an assistant professor of education policy at the University of Pittsburgh who has also studied takeovers across the country, including in Houston.
“It’s really down to who is chosen,” he said. “How much authority do they have? What are they going to do, critically, that’s different from what was being done?”
Akins High School students board a bus at a bus hub at Casey Elementary School on the first day of school Tuesday, Aug. 18, 2026.
Jay Janner/Austin American-Statesman