HOUSTON ISD BOND GOES DOWN

By: Bill King Voters decisively rejected Houston ISD’s request to approve $4.4 billion in bonds to rebuild and renovate some of its facilities. The proposal was the larg- est bond proposal in the state’s history. For many years, it was unusual for voters to give the thumbs down to bonds for public schools. That trend began unwinding a few years ago, as taxpayers began to recoil from proposals that included lavish athletic facilities in particular. Also, a new Texas law in 2021, which required school districts to state that approving the bond would result in a tax increase, put a damper on new proposals. Nonetheless, a study done by the Texas Tribune found that in recent years, 70-80% of school bond proposals were approved by voters. But in most cases, even when bonds were rejected by the voters, the vote was close. But not so in HISD’s case. The final vote was 58-42 against. I could not find definitive statistics, but I suspect this is one of the worst school bond defeats in the State’s history. So, why did voters so soundly reject this proposal? I think there were two factors. First, rightly or not, for many the election became...