While the future of the Houston Independent School District remains in flux, it is worth pointing out that those hoping for a state takeover to help solve student performance problems are almost certain to be disappointed.

The Texas Education Agency’s limited history with taking over urban school districts suggests the process is more akin to firefighting than engineering. An appointed board of managers can deal with immediate threats, but it’s not designed for rebuilding damaged structures.

The largest district taken over by TEA to date was the El Paso Independent School District in 2013. The district was wracked by a cheating scheme masterminded by the superintendent and abetted by a school board that abandoned its oversight responsibilities. Then-Education Commissioner Michael Williams stripped the elected seven-member board of its powers and replaced it with an appointed five-member board of managers.

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The appointed board, made up of four El Pasoans and a longtime education administrator from San Antonio, had some clear successes in its two years. It focused on straightening EPISD’s finances and hiring a new superintendent.

The managers did little to improve student performance, however, and faced criticism from some community members and teacher union leaders for lacking transparency at times. That’s a risk of a board that isn’t answerable to voters.

The appointed board’s term expired in 2015 and EPISD voters elected seven new trustees. Five years after the state took over EPISD, it is a better district than it was, but it still struggles to improve student achievement and build public trust.

The challenges at Houston ISD are different than those faced by EPISD in 2013, but the El Paso experience offers valuable lessons.

The most important: It is better for the current elected trustees to fix the problems rather than leave things to a state-appointed board. An appointed board might create a couple of years of breathing space, but it is unlikely to have the political credibility to address the academic challenges facing many Houston schools. A state-appointed board likely would delay necessary reforms.

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One significant change that Houston ISD should consider is changing the way it elects school board members. Currently, the nine trustees are elected from single-member districts, rather than by voters from throughout the school district.

Texas law allows a couple of alternatives. One would be a board made up of a mix of single-member and at-large trustees. This is similar to how Houston’s City Council is elected. Sixty smaller school districts across Texas use this governance system, according to the Texas Association of School Boards.

Another alternative would be to switch to cumulative voting, where voters across the school district would be allowed to cast as many votes as there are candidates. This option has been available to Texas school districts since 1995 and is used by a number of smaller school districts for at-large trustee elections.

Changing the governance model could help address one of the biggest challenges facing the school board: Members are concerned about struggling campuses in their own electoral district, but not necessarily in the districts of other trustees.

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Single-member districts have played a major role in assuring more diversity on school boards. They help ensure that multiple voices are heard in the development of education policy. But they also can result in a balkanized school district, with trustees focused on their individual parts rather than the whole.

In fact, that’s the exact problem that the takeover law was crafted to address. State Rep. Harold Dutton, D-Houston, the politician behind the law that allows for a TEA takeover, told the editorial board that he spent years trying to improve underperforming schools in his east Houston district only to get pushback from HISD board members who didn’t specifically represent the campuses. So he promoted a legislative solution — House Bill 1842 — that would force the entire board to face consequences for a single failing school.

“Without a gun to their head, I don’t think anything is going to change,” Dutton told the editorial board.

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But it shouldn’t take a mortal threat to force the HISD board to think in district-wide terms. Simply changing the way voters elect the board could ensure that board members care about each campus as if their own kids were students.

A fundamental shift to the election process could also be a signal to the Texas Education Agency that the district is serious about finding new ways to address challenges. Inaction would be an invitation to TEA to seize control of the district. A state-appointed board likely would further delay needed reforms.

Houston ISD should learn the lesson of El Paso. It’s better to fix your own problems now rather than wait for state intervention.