That momentum returned to Houston earlier this month when two candidates who had rallied supporters by hammering out the phantom menace of critical race theory and the so-called tyranny of mask mandates won seats on the council. Houston ISD administration with a low turnout, high stakes runoff. Pastor Kendall Baker won by less than 100 votes in District 6 and Bridget Wade ousted Administrator Anne Sung in District 7.

Elsewhere in the region and state of this electoral cycle, the Tories have won on similar platforms, most notably at Cy-Fair ISD.

“Knocking on the doors of District 7, it was pretty clear to me that the impression voters have of public schools, if they don’t themselves have children in public schools, is reported by Fox News. and national media coverage that has nothing to do with what our children are learning, ”Sung recently told The Chronicle.

An election that should have been about teacher pay and student progress has turned into a microcosm of the national battle against racism and the use of masks. Every school board candidate has said he wants to put students first, but in fact that means listening to education and health experts rather than rabid supporters.

After a partisan and bitter campaign, how do we move forward and prioritize the real issues facing HISD? About 50 HISD schools have “D” or “F” state responsibility ratings, and north of 95 percent of students in these schools are children of color. The district must continue to navigate the possibility of state takeover, and the pandemic has exacerbated learning gaps and other inequalities in education that need to be addressed.

And there are still the lingering consequences of the 2018 debacle in which state officials argue that several administrators violated Texas open meetings law by meeting with a former HISD superintendent – and voting by the vote. continuation without public debate to install him as superintendent and oust the interim leader.

The new board – which will again include victorious incumbents Elizabeth Santos and Sue Deigaard, who won the HISD District I and District V respectively – still have a lot of work to do to regain public trust after years of division. racial, corruption and other forms of dysfunction. Federal authorities recently announced the indictments of several former HISD officials, including former board chair Rhonda Skillern-Jones, in connection with an alleged corruption scheme.

Millard House II, the first permanent superintendent since 2018, is preparing to release its comprehensive strategic action plan expected early next year.

The Texas Republican Party announced earlier this month the formation of the Local Government Committee, which will work with county GOP organizations to support non-partisan local election candidates. Increasingly, “non-partisan” is a misnomer in local races. Gov. Greg Abbott, Rep. Dan Crenshaw and other prominent Texas Republicans tweeted their glee over the Tories’ second round wins.

Democrats are also mobilizing to strengthen the chances of their favorite candidates in school board races. “Our democracy is at stake, and it starts at our most local level,” Odus Evbagharu, chairman of the Harris County Democratic Party, recently told the Texas Tribune.

Partisanship is not in itself a bad thing, and reasonable people with a wide range of political perspectives can help students get a great education. And two new members do not constitute a majority on the nine-person council; three members are required for an item to be placed on the official board agenda, unless the chair of the board agrees.

It is essential that the two new conservatives and the seven returning administrators see each other as colleagues, not adversaries, in order to tackle the recent history of corruption and help struggling schools in the district. Wade said some of the current members have reached out to her to offer their support as she adjusts.

“Give me a little time to show what I am. People have drawn conclusions about me, and that’s good, but at least give me time to see what I’m capable of – and hold me accountable as well, ”Wade recently told the editorial board.

We didn’t support Wade or Baker in either the general election or the second round, and we didn’t agree with them on the masks. We are backing the Superintendent’s call this week to demand face coverings until 2022 as we navigate this wave of omicron variant. But we’ll take Wade on his request for a wait-and-see approach. As administrators strive to find solutions to HISD’s entrenched problems, it is essential that they are willing to go beyond traditional partisan fault lines to do so.

“The people who continue to watch the school board will find that these partisan battles don’t happen very often,” Jasmine Jenkins, executive director of Houstonians for Great Public Schools, told us earlier this month. Jenkins said she was “cautiously optimistic” that the board could refocus on key issues as political parties focus on next March’s primaries.

As the new board prepares to start early next month, members have issued tones suggesting they wish to work with their new colleagues. Students, parents, teachers and the wider community rely on House and the members of the HISD Board of Trustees to lead in a spirit of collaboration and put students first.