Texas Democrat who championed A-F trigger law says he’s trying to fix schools

By Jaden Edison, The Texas Tribune
September 25, 2026

The Democratic legislator responsible for a provision in Texas law that allows the education commissioner to take over underperforming school districts stood by it Friday, saying his top priority was “fixing the public schools.” 

State Rep. Harold V. Dutton Jr. said he opposes the removal of school boards’  elected officials when they receive five consecutive F ratings. But he also suggested their responsibility to educate every child, irrespective of background, was more important. 

“People are trying to paint me as saying that I’m for big takeovers,” Dutton said. “That’s just the opposite of what I am.” 

Dutton offered his perspective on Texas’ increasing reliance on school takeovers during a Texas Tribune Festival panel that also featured Miguel Solis, president of the Commit Partnership, who previously served as a Dallas school board member; and Maria Benzon, a trustee   in Houston ISD. 

Texas Education Commissioner Mike Morath has taken over seven districts for academic underperformance in the decade since Dutton championed the intervention law. That includes Houston ISD, from which Dutton graduated. The law requires the education chief to replace a school district’s elected trustees or close the struggling campus after five Fs. 

Solis, who worked in the administration of Houston’s state-appointed superintendent, Mike Miles, while in Dallas, said he believes that the threat of a school takeover should not outweigh the harm that would happen if accountability did not exist.

“What is threatening is a child who can experience their entire elementary experience in a failing school,” said Solis, who also served with Morath on the Dallas school board. 

But district leaders’ heavy emphasis on test scores and accountability ratings harms students, Benzon said in response. 

State takeovers do not allow communities to have a say in their children’s education, she asserted. They reduce rigorous and engaging classroom instruction to scripted lessons and unengaged teachers, she argued. They also push administrators to “game the system” by cherry-picking which students take certain classes and exams, she said, which results in the neediest students only taking courses where they have the highest likelihood of raising their test scores. 

“In the trial of trying to be expedient and get the job done and be transformational quickly to get amazing results, we dehumanize our kids,” said Benzon, a former teacher in Houston ISD. “The other thing is, if this takeover was working, you would have the community in total support.” 

Dutton questioned why it seems that people only question testing metrics when they show Black students producing academic gains. He hopes Houston voters will participate in more school board elections once the takeover ends, now that many better understand the role trustees play in shaping students’ educational experience. 

Benzon expects significant changes once the takeover ends, starting with unraveling the changes that many Houstonians feel hurt kids. 

“This is not working,” she said about the costly takeover reforms. “It’s not sustainable.”

Disclosure: Commit Partnership has been a major financial supporter of The Texas Tribune. The Texas Tribune is a nonprofit, nonpartisan news organization that is funded in part by donations from members, foundations and corporate sponsors. Financial supporters play no role in our journalism. Find a complete list of them and more information about our financial and disclosure policies here.

This article first appeared on The Texas Tribune.