HISD protest: Dozens gather to denounce the takeover on May 25

HOUSTON — Dozens of people gathered in downtown Houston Saturday, demanding an end to what they call the hostile takeover of HISD.

Carrying signs and chanting, protesters marched past Houston City Hall. They were led by Bishop James Dixon, head of the Houston chapter of the NAACP, who gave a fiery speech comparing the state takeover of HISD to apartheid.

“The powerful oppress those who are seen as powerless,” he told the crowd. “When they came up with this strategy, they didn’t expect us all to come together and stand up and fight against it. They thought we would be quiet. They thought we would be docile. ,They thought we would opt for okie-doke and accept it as a normal life. Either we came today to say no!

The protest was sparked in part by a series of firings involving principals and teachers the district considered underperforming.

At a HISD meeting held Friday morning, the board voted to approve the layoffs. The meeting featured about 200 speakers, many of them parents and school employees, who spoke out against the district, state-appointed superintendent Mike Miles and the layoffs.