For the Sake of Houston's Future, Let's Pass HISD Bonds

This article will appear in Sunday's Houston Chronicle Outlook section.

Nothing is more important to our city, state and nation than the education of future generations. I personally have seen schools within the Houston Independent School District in need of repair or reconstruction. So I support the issuance of bonds by the Houston Independent School District to pay for these school improvements. The alternatives would be to increase tax rates by financing improvements without the use of debt or to allow schools to deteriorate even more.

I urge citizens not to vote against HISD's bond issue in protest. Students should not suffer because of the errors of individuals within school governance and administration.

Many citizens have doubts about HISD's bond issue because of concerns about school closings and consolidations. I share their questions about school closings, and have expressed myself forcefully to HISD. But school board elections, not the bond issue, are the best way to act on these concerns without hurting students.

Like parks, libraries, and places of worship, schools anchor the identity of neighborhoods. They provide a sense of community and continuity. Historical schools build an important network of support for education, through their alumni.

For these reasons, public officials should approach the closure of schools, parks, and libraries with caution and humility. Permanent closure of a school should be a last resort in achieving clearly defined objectives. Before closing a school, the School Board and HISD administration must do everything within their power to reduce any excessive occupancy costs, attract enrollment, and use innovative approaches to providing services to smaller schools, closer to their students.

But the way to fight any particular school closure or consolidation is not to vote down the bond issue where the overwhelming bulk of the funds would be used to undertake the rehabilitation of existing facilities and expansion to accommodate overcrowded schools.

HISD worked constructively with me and others on the financing plan to eliminate the property tax rate increase which was originally contemplated. Superintendent Saavedra has given me his word that he and members of his management team will defer any final recommendations to the Board to close or consolidate schools until they can demonstrate to a broad group of stakeholders - including the business community through the Greater Houston Partnership and state and local elected officials - that the district explored and implemented every practical alternative. This includes the 16 elementary schools proposed to be consolidated into 8 new facilities built using bond debt.

Houstonians should be proud that we have avoided the fate of the majority of the "Top Ten" largest U.S. cities, where their major urban school districts were placed in receivership. Some cities have suffered from school board turmoil because of ethnic divisiveness. Houston has avoided these fates, and HISD has made significant strides in academic progress with innovations such as site-based management, collaboration with businesses and nonprofit groups, and permitting students more choice among schools, including magnet schools. If those who are concerned about school closure and consolidation join with the substantial portion of voters who vote against every bond issue, and HISD is unable to upgrade its aging facilities, what kind of message will that send to parents, teachers, students and people with children who may want to move within our City center?

My Houston Hope program is resulting in hundreds of new homes being built in neighborhoods where few had been built before, giving us hope for reversing declining school enrollments and avoiding costly leapfrog development. Obviously there is some point at which a school is "too small," although many fine schools operate at smaller sizes than what HISD today considers a minimum. But if HISD decides to close neighborhood schools, over the community's objection, without viewing that measure as the last resort, then voters across the City in the next school board elections will hear from a new political action committee I will form this year. That is not a threat. It is a promise to those who join me in supporting the HISD bond issue despite their reservations about consolidation plans.