MAYOR TURNER ALARMED BY STATE TO TAKEOVER HISD

ouston Mayor Sylvester Turner ran late on Wednesday morning, March 1, 2022, for the Houston City Council. Over the weekend, he met with several people, including legislators and Commissioner of Education Mike Morath, to discuss the future of the Houston Independent School District (HISD). The commissioner did not give him a definitive answer. However, the legislators did inform him of the state's intention to takeover HISD. According to Turner, Texas Education Agen (TEA) has intentions of replacing the Board of Education, Superintendent Millard House, and taking over the en-

"I find that totally alarming, totally alarming. HISD has 273 schools: nearly 190, 000 students. How do you come in and takeover the largest school district in the state of Texas? How do you do that? And do it successfully," a puzzled Mayor Turner said. " So what I have been doing this morning is checking to see if there is any successful model in the country and there is none. There is not a successful model of this

Mayor Turner was visibly upset as he spoke about the takeover that could happen sometime next week. Before city council, Mayor Turner questioned what standard of measure the state use would to run HISD since none of the managers are known to anyone nor or they elected officials.

"Who are they accountable to?" said Mayor Turner.

From the looks of things, the state will be accountable to no one. This is what Mayor Turner is calling a bad model, as he recalled when the state took over the Nort Forest School District and placed it under HISD without the needed resources.

"It is not good for the students. It is not good for the parents. It is not good for the teachers, the faculty. Neither is it good for the City of Houston. It will create a great deal of uncertainty and will generate a lot of worry by a lot of parents saying, "Who now will be responsible and accountable?"”

In his more than ten-minute remarks, Mayor Turner noted the improvements HISD made. Around 2019, Phllis Wheatly High School had been in bad shape for more than seven years. There were also about 50 schools that ranked as D or F schools. However, under Superintendent Millard House and the new board, vast improvements have been made. According to new reports looking at the last three years, 40 of the 50 low-performing schools are no longer classified as D or F. HISD has even improved overall as a district. The eighth largest district in the US is now a B+ school district, up from their

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When meeting with Commissioner Morath, Mayor Turner asked, "How does the state come and in takeover an entire school district of 274000 students?" TEA wants to move out one superintendent to bring in another without telling the people who will select this new superintendent and by whom will regulate the state to make sure they are doing right by students.

The mayor seemed to be almost in tears as he made his next comment. "We cannot be silent on this one. The state is overreaching on this one. And I don’t want to hear this argument that it Is mandatory by the law that was passed and mayor you were there, and you voted for it. Well, let’s backup cause, I was there, and that amendment was attached to a bill with no discussion," he said. So don’t hold that against him.

Mayor Turner challenged Commissioner Morath to change what was happening right now since legislation is in session. There is no word on whether Mayor Turner’s words will have any bearing on any future decisions.

Damian Lillard set an NBA record in his monster scoring night on Sunday, racking up 71 points in 39 minutes, including 13 three-pointers, as the Portland Trail Blazers beat the Houston Rockets 121-114.

With his effort, Lillard became the first player in NBA history to score more than 70 points in under 40 minutes and just the eighth player to hit the 70-point mark.

He is also the only player on that elite list to score 70 over the age of 30, and the first to do so with 10 or more three-pointers.

"I enjoy those moments in the game when I'm just going after people," the NBA All-Star said after the game. "That's all it was tonight. I wanted to be in attack mode. I got it going and stayed aggressive."

Lillard came into the game averaging 37.6 points in his previous 18 games and continued that stellar run with a league-wide, season-high mark, equaling Donovan Mitchell's 71 points against the Chicago Bulls in January.

DAMIAN LILLARD BECOMES FIRST PLAYER IN NBA HISTORY TO SCORE OVER 70 POINTS IN UNDER 40 MINUTES IN PORTLAND TRAIL BLAZERS' WIN OVER HOUSTON ROCKETS

By Alasdair Howorth, CNN/StyleMagazine.com Newswire

Lillard started the scoring early, with 41 points, including eight three-pointers at halftime. Whether driving into the paint or dropping shots from distance, the Blazers guard was unplayable.

He made all 14 of his free throw attempts and had a magnetic relationship with the basket when shooting -even sinking a ludicrous, 36-foot jumper in the second quarter.

He ended the game shooting 22-of-38 from the field, making 13 three-pointers from 22 attempts -- just one off Klay Thompson's record 14 3-pointers set in 2018.

Lillard's teammates continued looking for him in the closing minutes to try and get ahead of Mitchell's total, but after missing a couple of shots, he came off the court exhausted with 44 seconds left the clock.

"It really, really was a masterful performance," Portland coach Chauncey Billups said of his star's game. "It was a piece of art. That was incredible."

With that performance, Lillard entered a pantheon of NBA greats. His 71-point haul is tied for the eighth-most points scored in a game in NBA history, though still some way off Wilt Chamberlain's record of 100 points set in 1962.

Read more at: StyleMagazine.com