New Governor. Same Takeover Law. Follow the Book.

Eight school districts are run by people nobody in town elected.

A new governor says she will change that.

The law already says how. Follow the law.

Plain English summary

When a Texas school district is taken over, the state education commissioner appoints a board of managers. The elected trustees stay in their seats, but their powers are suspended. The Texas Tribune reported on November 6 that managers in takeover districts like Houston, Fort Worth and Beaumont are bracing to be removed once Governor-elect Gina Hinojosa takes office and picks a new commissioner.

That is a big change for a lot of families. So let's read what the law actually says before anybody moves.

Why it matters

Your school board is supposed to answer to you. You vote for it. You can show up and speak to it. You can vote it out.

A board of managers answers to one person in Austin.

Whether you liked the takeovers or hated them, this is about who holds the power over your kids' schools, and whether the rules stay the same when the people in charge change.

The receipt

FACT. The governor, with the advice and consent of the Senate, appoints the commissioner of education. The commissioner's term runs with the governor's. Texas Education Code 7.051 and 7.052

FACT. If a campus has an unacceptable rating for five school years in a row, the commissioner must order either a board of managers for the district or closure of the campus. Education Code 39A.111

FACT. When a board of managers is appointed, the powers of the elected trustees are suspended and the commissioner appoints the superintendent. Education Code 39A.202

FACT. The commissioner "may at any time replace a member of a board of managers." Education Code 39A.207

FACT. The commissioner may remove a whole board of managers "only if the campus that was the basis for the appointment" earns an acceptable rating for two school years in a row. Education Code 39A.209

FACT. The return to elected control is set in law. By the second anniversary of the appointment, the commissioner must give the expiration date. Then one third of the managers are replaced by elected trustees each year over the last three years. Education Code 39A.208

DOCUMENTED INFERENCE. The Texas Tribune reported the state has taken over eight districts, and named Houston, Fort Worth, Beaumont, Connally, Lake Worth and South San Antonio. It reported Hinojosa campaigned to stop takeovers and to replace Commissioner Mike Morath on day one, January 19, and that she has not said if or when a new commissioner would replace appointed boards. Texas Tribune, Nov. 6, 2026

DOCUMENTED INFERENCE. The same report quoted Fort Worth ISD's appointed board president, Pete Geren: "I know they will have the authority on day one to replace all of us." Texas Tribune

NEEDS AUTHENTICATION. The Tribune cited unnamed education experts saying a new commissioner could replace any or all managers at any time. Read 39A.207 and 39A.209 side by side. Swapping members one at a time and removing the whole board are two different powers with two different rules. Which one controls is a question for lawyers and courts, not for a press conference.

What Ryan says

RYAN STATEMENT. I have said it before and I will keep saying it. Same rule, no matter who holds the office.

When these takeovers happened, plenty of Texans said Austin had no business running a local school board. Now a new governor is coming in, and the pressure is for Austin to move fast again, just in the other direction.

I don't care which direction it goes. I care that the law is followed the way it is written.

The law gives a path back to elected boards. It has dates. It has steps. It has a rating test. If the new commissioner wants to hand those districts back, do it by the book, in public, with the reasons on paper.

And if the Legislature wants to change the trigger or end takeovers, that is a bill. Bills get filed, debated and voted on where you can watch. Not decided in a hallway in January.

Parents in Beaumont and Houston and Fort Worth have been told one set of rules for years. They deserve the same rules on the way out that they got on the way in.

Show me the plan. Show me the dates. Show me the law it rests on.

What this does not prove

It does not prove Hinojosa will remove any board. She has not said she will, or when.

It does not prove the takeovers worked or failed. The record on test scores and teacher turnover is argued both ways, and I am not settling that here.

It does not prove any manager or trustee did anything wrong.

What it does prove

It proves the commissioner, not the governor directly, holds the takeover power.

It proves the law already lays out a timeline and a rating test to give a district back.

It proves the next commissioner needs Senate consent, so the Senate has a say in who holds that power.

The bottom line

New governor. Same statute.

Elected boards matter. So does the rule of law. You can have both if everybody in Austin follows the book they already have.

Watch who gets named commissioner. Watch what that person says about 39A.208 and 39A.209. That is the record.

Do not threaten anyone. Do not harass anyone. Do not contact anyone in my name. Read it. Share it. Send receipts, evidence, witnesses. Put eyes on the record.