gkashtanJul 28, 2023
Taylor Lorenz
The largest public school district in Texas is eliminating librarian positions and converting the libraries into 'discipline centers' at 28 schools this upcoming year https://www.click2houston.com/news/local/2023/07/26/hisd-to-eliminate-librarians-turn-libraries-into-discipline-centers-at-28-campuses/
HISD to eliminate librarians, turn some libraries into discipline centers at 28 campuses

Houston Independent School District will be eliminating librarian positions at 28 schools this upcoming year and utilizing some of the libraries as ‘Team Centers” where kids with behavioral issues will be sent, the district announced.

KPRC Click2Houston
Jul 27, 2023 at 8:01pmMastodon for iOS
Show threadnice glutes      Jul 27, 2023
@taylorlorenz Texas gop really is just straight up killing education.
Show threadBrodyrocksJul 27, 2023
@taylorlorenz noooo…right out of the Third Reich
Show threadVern AcularJul 27, 2023
@taylorlorenz Abbott: Welcome to Fortress Texas!
Show threadJudgment DaveJul 27, 2023
@taylorlorenz The descent is exponential.
Show threadBryanJul 27, 2023

@taylorlorenz aww, little baby prisons to get them prepared for their adult texan lives

Since it's the GOP they can probably get out early for "good production" since they'll probably be doing cheap labor

Show threadSueJul 27, 2023
@bry @taylorlorenz Good production isn’t rewarded with freedom, it’s rewarded with more production.
Show threadBryanJul 27, 2023
@suethepooh @taylorlorenz ahh yes. They'll find a way to get you to have to get in trouble again and get back in there
Show threadTony WellsJul 27, 2023
@bry @taylorlorenz
So, 'work sets you free'? Perhaps that's going on a sign above the discipline center entrance. I'm sure I've heard that term before somewhere.
Show threadBryanJul 27, 2023
@TonyJWells @taylorlorenz ahh that does sound familiar. I think it worked out for them right?
Show threadfungalinflectionJul 27, 2023
@taylorlorenz the article conspicuously omits that the school district was taken over by the state government with specious justification. Reactionaries only have one move when it comes to education, especially in a majority minority city.
Show threadIncognitimJul 28, 2023
@fungalinflectio @taylorlorenz
Can't help but feel like this is only the beginning. #Abbott has plans on the white house, and the big gqp donors have been itching for a lab to experiment in. I wouldn't be surprised if #HISD gets split into two pieces: one a breeding ground for christian nationalists, the other a juvenile detention hall for the kids who don't completely fall in line.
Show threadschoolingdianaJul 28, 2023
@Incognitim @fungalinflectio @taylorlorenz Omg, lol. Too many analogies running through my mind. He’s too old for starters. And I’m reminded of a saying very old people said when I was young: if wishes were horses, we’d all have a ride. He can wish all he wants. I predict he’s going nowhere. Especially since he can be charged with human trafficking (and hopefully will be next year).
Show threadIncognitimJul 28, 2023

@schoolingdiana @fungalinflectio @taylorlorenz
I hope you're right!
But don't write abbott off too quickly. He's 65, which is only a few years older than Obama is now, and is young compared to trump and Biden. Plus, he's just as scummy as desantis, but is better at dealing with the press.

I doubt he'd get the nom, but if he did he'd be incredibly dangerous.

Show threadGrassroots JoeJul 28, 2023

@fungalinflectio @taylorlorenz

Yup. It isn't the Houston school district, it's the **state** hired superintendent. 

More of the same regressive-right take over of & attempts to remake educational institutions to be bastions of conservatism. 

https://www.click2houston.com/news/local/2023/06/01/who-is-mike-miles-texas-education-agency-picks-houston-isd-superintendent-commencing-state-takeover/

Who is Mike Miles? Texas Education Agency picks Houston ISD superintendent, commencing state takeover

The Texas Education Agency on Thursday named former Dallas Independent School District superintendent Mike Miles as superintendent of the Houston Independent School District, initiating the state’s takeover of Texas’ largest school district.

KPRC Click2Houston
Show threadAlex WildJul 27, 2023
@taylorlorenz Worth noting this is happening because the state government used a technicality to wrest the school district away from local, democratic governance and hand it to Republican apparatchiks. Houston doesn't want this. At all. But they aren't even allowed to vote on it.
Show threadNick Stefanski 🐦‍🔥Jul 27, 2023

@alexwild @taylorlorenz thanks for the additional context. For others who want to read more, I found another article that goes into more depth on the technicality they used to wrest control: https://www.edweek.org/leadership/whats-behind-texas-takeover-of-houston-schools/2023/03

Students will suffer because of this. How can they even pretend this is for the public good?

What's Behind Texas' Takeover of Houston Schools

State takeovers of districts began in the 1980s but have waned recently following limited evidence of academic benefit.

Education Week
Show threadE. ChangJul 27, 2023
@tzarfenix @alexwild @taylorlorenz It’s not for the public good. This is for the purpose of expanding the school-to-for-profit-prison pipeline. Gotta line those donors’ pockets somehow, and majority-minority schools are the perfect target for them.
Show threadZhi Zhu 🕸️Jul 28, 2023

@alexwild @taylorlorenz

It's insane. But it's really happening.

When the Texas state #GOP forcibly took control over the Houston Independent School District, they decided to eliminate librarians and turn libraries into school jails.

Here's a post with a link to another article about it, with a video:
https://newsie.social/@ZhiZhu/110784123730243822

#Texas #Education #Libraries #Politics #USA #News

ZhiZhu (@[email protected])

Attached: 1 image @[email protected] I have a hard time believing that any school system would do this, but it's real. It's utterly insane, but it's real. "HISD to eliminate librarians and convert libraries into disciplinary centers at NES schools" https://abc13.com/hisd-libraries-librarians-media-specialists-houston-isd/13548483/ #Libraries #Education #Houston #Texas #USA #News

Newsie
Show threadBleuBleuJul 28, 2023
@alexwild @taylorlorenz ironically even if they could vote on it, thanks to another law Texas passed, the state can just invalidate their vote and call for a new election till they get their desired result.
Show threadEsther  🌱🐾🍋 #fcknzsJul 27, 2023
@taylorlorenz it’s DISGUSTING
Show threadPlumster 🫏Jul 27, 2023
@taylorlorenz this wins the dystopian headline of the day award. Please no more entries can be accepted at this time.
Show threadSocharpJul 27, 2023
@taylorlorenz A sad day for children
Show threadEmpathy1stJul 27, 2023

@taylorlorenz

Looks like they're starting Christofascist propaganda programs.

Indoctrination is easier when they're young.

Show threaddon albertsonJul 27, 2023
@taylorlorenz Say it ain't so.
Show threadJames Ryland MillerJul 27, 2023
@taylorlorenz Well that's just gross...
Show threadSamJul 27, 2023
@taylorlorenz what the FUCK
Show threadUlrikeJul 27, 2023
@taylorlorenz
Good news, Everybody! The school to prison pipeline just got a whole lot shorter!
Show threadGerard Cunningham ✒️Jul 27, 2023
@taylorlorenz
Fascism is never subtle, is it?
Show threadLady TaliaJul 27, 2023
@taylorlorenz This is unbelievably bad. Libraries are gateways to the imagination.
Show threadCarlGJul 27, 2023
@taylorlorenz Coming next year - Texas converts the former library sites into slaughterhouses where kids can work and obtain valuable vocational training.
Show threadDaily Twerk ✅Jul 27, 2023
@taylorlorenz

“Texas has the fourth-lowest literacy rate in the country at eighteen percent. Nineteen percent of adults lack basic literacy skills,”

https://www.nbcdfw.com/news/local/dallas-nonprofit-works-to-increase-adult-literacy-skills-among-texans/3073761/


Solution, get rid of libraries.

Genius.
Dallas Nonprofit Works to Increase Adult Literacy Skills Among Texans

Suring National Literacy Month, a North Texas nonprofit is working to close the adult literacy gap.

NBC 5 Dallas-Fort Worth
Show threadDaily Twerk ✅Jul 27, 2023
@taylorlorenz

Should have provided a link to the organisation working to improve literacy levels. They need donationd.

https://readingtonewheights.org/
Reading To New Heights

Show threadBC253Jul 27, 2023
@taylorlorenz
Just one more thing the MAGA crowd want to do to this country. Turn the libraries into jails. Or will they call them reeducation centers?
Show threadJonnyactionpntsJul 27, 2023
@taylorlorenz that’s some dystopian shit, right there
Show threadJuggling With EggsJul 27, 2023

@taylorlorenz as the partner of a librarian living in the UK this just seems so alien and regressive. Do the books remain in these discipline centers, even if the librarians who advise don’t? Or is this just about finding a new space to isolate kids who are crying out for educational and communication support?

My kids are lucky to have two libraries in their junior school. The regular one and the library of sanctuary which specialises in books about migration and social issues.

Show thread@batyalee 🌿Jul 28, 2023
@JugglingWithEggs @taylorlorenz "...seems so alien and regressive." Yes. Best not to overthink your impression. It is what it seems.
Show threadRod In BoiseJul 27, 2023
@taylorlorenz The beatings will continue until morale improves.
Show threadgeographileJul 27, 2023
@taylorlorenz imagine my surprise.
Show threadSteve's PlaceJul 27, 2023
@taylorlorenz I briefly had to pay taxes to support that school district. IMHO, any parent allowing that corrupt, fascist indoctrination gulag to get its hands on their child after this is committing an act of child abuse. That's what fascists do. The Republican party is a fascist cult. The best solution to Texas is immediately getting the hell out of Texas.
Show threadveereadstoomuchJul 27, 2023
@taylorlorenz oh my gosh this is terrible
Show threadGenoForPrezJul 27, 2023
@taylorlorenz how you know things are going well
Show threadRobert Dale ParkerJul 27, 2023

@taylorlorenz This is good. Kids in Houston don't need books. After all, most of them already have their own phones. If they read books too, that might distract them from TikTok and from their schoolwork.

https://www.click2houston.com/news/local/2023/07/26/hisd-to-eliminate-librarians-turn-libraries-into-discipline-centers-at-28-campuses/

#Libraries #Books #Education

HISD to eliminate librarians, turn some libraries into discipline centers at 28 campuses

Houston Independent School District will be eliminating librarian positions at 28 schools this upcoming year and utilizing some of the libraries as ‘Team Centers” where kids with behavioral issues will be sent, the district announced.

KPRC Click2Houston
Show threadFarksnatcherJul 27, 2023
@taylorlorenz
Superintendent Mike Miles said students are behind on reading levels, especially in 4th grade.
Show threadHydrox85Jul 27, 2023

@taylorlorenz This is so incredibly sad for me to hear.

My love of reading started in a Texas public school when my 5th grade teacher took the whole class to the library with the assignment that everyone had to check out at least one book.

I checked out “The Wonderful Flight to the Mushroom Planet”. It took me a while to get through, and I almost didn’t pick it because it didn’t have a picture on every page. However, I returned the next week for two more books, “Stowaway to the Mushroom Planet“ & “Steel Magic”.

I’m 59 years old now. I still remember those three books fondly and now read between one and two books a week. My love of reading started with that middle school teacher and a visit to that Texas school library.

Again, so sad.

Show threadDoc AWFL*Jul 27, 2023

@taylorlorenz

HOW CAN THIS EVEN BE REAL

Show threadBroJul 27, 2023

@taylorlorenz
“Discipline centres”
You mean ‘religious indoctrination camps’
They already forced schools in Texas to display the 10 commandments.

This is the next natural step to ensure the public stays uneducated and indoctrinated into their cult.

Show threadLCWebsXOXO [mod]Jul 27, 2023
@taylorlorenz Is it possible for someone to file a lawsuit about it? Because this is INCREDIBLY bleak and detrimental to children.
Show threadJuneJul 27, 2023
@taylorlorenz this is fuckin wild. Primary schools without libraries? Makes less than no sense.
Show threadUncle PhishyJul 27, 2023
@taylorlorenz smh “reading desserts” 🤦🏻‍♂️
Show threadMichael KarbowiakJul 27, 2023

@taylorlorenz the fuck is a discipline center supposed to even be?

Is it supposed to be taken literal? 😬

Show threadLHamiltonJul 27, 2023
@taylorlorenz It's beginning to look as if in at least the GOP-run states, the only children getting a good education will be the children of privilege.
Show threadx0Jul 27, 2023
Re prev: If that doesn't tell you that these people see schools as prisons and endoctrination centers, I don't know what will. They literally want to remove the kids' capacity to learn independently and make them into worker slaves, and obviously don't give a shit about their mental health, which is a known fucking quantity! THIS WILL KILL YOUR KIDS!
Show threadx0Jul 27, 2023
Maybe that's the plan. To oppress the upcoming generation so thoroughly that they won't be able to vote you out
Show threadSkyler Jul 27, 2023
@taylorlorenz how long until Florida follows their lead and bands all books in school, including textbooks? With the exception of religious books as long as the religious book is the Bible.
Show threadNoctisEqui 🇺🇦🇵🇸🇪🇹🏳️‍🌈Jul 27, 2023
@taylorlorenz
GTFOOTX!
Show threadCaffe NekoJul 27, 2023
@taylorlorenz This is the same HISD that was taken over recently by the Texas State. https://www.houstonpublicmedia.org/articles/education/2023/03/15/446250/texas-education-agency-takeover-houston-independent-school-district/
Texas Education Agency announces takeover of the Houston Independent School District

The state-appointed managers will hold immense power. They can control the budget, school closures, collaborations with charter networks, policies around curriculum and library books, as well as hiring or firing the superintendent, among other important decisions. 

Houston Public Media
Show threadJoseph NoblesJul 27, 2023

@taylorlorenz

Didn't the state just take over this district? And this is what they are doing? Good God.

Show threadJesse's KittenJul 27, 2023
@taylorlorenz What the hell?!
Show threadAleggraJul 27, 2023

@taylorlorenz

Just what we need, less readers — more ignorance.