[Congressional Record Volume 169, Number 52 (Wednesday, March 22, 2023)]
[House]
[Page H1320]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




     HOUSTON INDEPENDENT SCHOOL BOARD DISTRICT THREATENED TAKEOVER

  (Ms. JACKSON LEE asked and was given permission to address the House 
for 1 minute and to revise and extend her remarks.)
  Ms. JACKSON LEE. Madam Speaker, we can honor Women's History Month in 
many different ways, and I rise today to acknowledge women in all walks 
of life and around the world.
  I particularly want to mention a crisis that involves women in my 
Congressional District.
  Can you imagine the State of Texas attempting to take over the 
largest school district in our State, and the seventh or eighth largest 
school district, the Houston Independent School District.
  Why women? Because parents, many of them single household, women. 
Teachers, women. Support staff, women. Cafeteria workers, women--women 
who love the children and wonder why a State would eliminate the school 
board--which by the way, has the largest number of women as school 
board members on the Houston Independent School Board District.
  There is no definable reason to take over a district that has a C 
rating for one school, an overall B plus, a Chinese immersion school, a 
Arabic immersion school, an art and professional school, virtual arts, 
and as well children performing after the pandemic.
  When I met with the parents at this meeting that was being held, they 
asked why. They were women.
  Madam Speaker, I stand with them.
  We will fight against the takeover, and I will listen to the women, 
the parents of the children of the Houston Independent School District.

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