State Takeover Laws (Re)visited: School Board Leadership as White Property

This Article leverages Cheryl Harris’s Whiteness as Property to better understand the state takeover of public schools in Houston, Texas. In doing so, the Article recounts the history of state takeovers of public schools and districts before highlighting how whiteness as property has been applied in research in the field of education. The Article shares the specific facts about the state takeover of public schools in the Houston Independent School District ahead of applying the four rights inherent in Harris’s Whiteness as Property. This Article argues and exhibits that whiteness as property is an appropriate framework by which to evaluate the state takeover of public schools and districts, especially the takeover of Houston Independent School District.