Texas forces changes on Latino and Black parents as Legislature debates school choice

The state of Texas has swept into the Houston school district, seized control of some 85 schools, most of which are majority Latino or Black, homogenized teaching and curriculums, remade some schools’ libraries into discipline and study centers, and removed or reassigned teachers and librarians.

The state has said it’s had to make the abrupt and aggressive intrusion to rescue the schoolchildren in the district — whose student population is 62% Latino and 22% Black — from years of education failure that year after year leaves many illiterate or lagging their peers in math.