At the Wheeler Avenue Baptist Church in Houston’s Third Ward, the writing appeared to be already on the wall for Propositions A and B—a pair of school bonds totaling $4.4 billion for the Houston Independent School District. Voters showed up Tuesday telling poll greeters that their mind was already made up, announcing to campaigners they would not vote for the bond. “It’s a no go,” said one voter.
Despite the flood of glossy flyers, phone calls, and text messages sent to voters promising improvements to the district’s aging schools, promotional efforts bankrolled by more than $2 million from HISD and a charter school-backed PAC, 60 percent of early voters rejected the bond, a gap that election day voting is very unlikely to make up. Proclaiming “No trust, no bond,” its critics largely saw their vote as a referendum on the state takeover of Houston’s largest school district and state-appointed Superintendent Mike Miles, who has stirred up dissension among parents, teachers, principals, and other community members since he took control of the district in June 2023.
“In my 33 years as an educator, I’ve never known teachers to come out against a bond. I’ve never known the Republican Party and the Democratic Party to agree on anything. I’ve never seen so much community involvement and participation, mainly because we do not trust Mike Miles,” said Houston Federations of Teachers President Jackie Anderson. “You want us to give you a $4.4 billion check with no real community involvement or input. You stack the deck after you kicked off the elected [board]. … You just refused to work with us, parents, community at all, and this is the result of that. This failed bond is a result of his failure as a superintendent, his failed leadership.”
