In his first public comments about plans to strip power from Houston ISD’s elected trustees, Texas Education Commissioner Mike Morath said Tuesday that the district’s leaders have engaged in “chronic neglect” of children in long-struggling schools, requiring the appointment of a replacement governing board that will better direct resources to HISD’s neediest students.

In an hourlong interview with the Houston Chronicle’s editorial board, Morath said he wants the replacement governing board to close achievement gaps by improving the district’s pre-kindergarten offerings, placing more high-performing staff at low-rated campuses and re-establishing strong leadership practices during its temporary stay in power. He faulted the district’s elected trustees for failing to address achievement issues in HISD’s longest-struggling campuses, several of which have received multiple consecutive failing grades in the past decade.

“This is how you make real inroads on the achievement gap: you get very serious about resource allocation,” Morath said. “It’s about money and talent. This is, in fact, an underlying root cause as to why you have some of the highest-performing schools in the state and some chronically under-performing schools, all in the same district. It’s a tale of two cities.”

Morath announced in early November that he intends to replace HISD’s nine elected trustees due to chronically low performance at Wheatley High School, multiple substantiated findings of misconduct by board members and the failure to rectify issues that have necessitated state oversight.

Wheatley this year received its seventh consecutive failing grade under the state’s school accountability system.

HISD trustees, who are suing to stop the intervention, argue Morath’s administration fails to acknowledge the district’s relatively strong overall performance and the state’s role in funding disparities. HISD outperformed many of the state’s largest districts under Texas’ academic accountability system this year, though 21 out of about 280 campuses received a failing grade.

Barring a legal order to halt Morath’s move, an appointed board is expected to take power as early as spring 2020, and remain in the district for two to five years. Under state law, Morath is responsible for selecting board members and choosing the superintendent.

On HoustonChronicle.com: TEA announces plans to replace HISD’s elected school board

In his comments Tuesday, Morath made clear that he expects the appointed board to address a few key areas, including “a systemic investment in early childhood education” and “how we properly support teachers and incent them” to work at chronically low-performing campuses. However, Morath said he will allow appointed board members and the superintendent to craft plans for meeting those goals.

“I would expect the board to use its judgment and proceed in a strategic direction that they think, given the intel that’s coming to them, makes the most sense for the kids and taxpayers of Houston,” Morath said.

Many HISD residents and the district’s largest teachers union remain deeply distrustful of the state’s efforts, and Morath’s comments Tuesday likely will do little to quell that skepticism.

Opponents of the intervention have voiced concern that Morath, a member of Republican Gov. Greg Abbott’s administration, will yank appointed board members from power if they do not follow his vision for the district. Morath has replaced three appointed board members in the past three years, offering no public explanation for the moves. He declined Tuesday to elaborate on his decisions.

“What I can say is, sometimes adjustments in personnel are necessary if results aren’t being produced,” he said.

HISD Trustee Rhonda Skillern-Jones, who has served on the board for eight years, said state legislators have failed to properly fund public education in recent years, causing many of the issues Morath cited Tuesday. She noted HISD has paid hundreds of millions of dollars in local tax revenues back to the state through “recapture,” Texas’ method of creating funding equity between districts, in the past few years.

“If the commissioner had any misgivings about the financial situation and the resources allocated, then he should also have misgivings about us being in recapture and not having the money to do those things,” said Skillern-Jones, whose board district includes Wheatley and several other long-struggling schools.

On HoustonChronicle.com: Despite takeover threat, HISD scores well compared to big-city peers

HISD long has offered full-day pre-kindergarten classes, even though the Texas Legislature only provided funding for half-day classes until this year. Among the state’s 10 largest districts, HISD reported the second-highest pre-kindergarten enrollment relative to its size. However, many families send 4-year-olds to early education providers run by nonprofits or private companies, making enrollment comparisons challenging.

In the past three years, HISD also has offered $5,000 bonuses to teachers and tens of thousands of dollars in various incentives to principals working in hard-to-staff schools. District officials have said their data show an increase in effective principals at those campuses, but relatively little change in the share of lower-rated and first-year teachers.

Morath added that the district’s four newly elected trustees, who will be seated in January, cannot join the appointed board. Three of the four election victors say they have applied or plan to apply, believing they were eligible.

jacob.carpenter@chron.com