A lawsuit filed Wednesday alleges that Angleton ISD is violating the Voting Rights Act of 1965 by denying fair representation to Hispanic voters by using an at-large system to elect all of its trustees.
Brewer Storefront, the advocacy arm of Dallas-based Brewer, Attorneys and Counselors, filed the lawsuit on behalf of plaintiff Laura Jaso, claiming the district “denies Hispanic voters a fair opportunity to elect candidates of their choosing to represent their communities.” Brewer Storefront brought similar lawsuits against several school districts, most recently against Humble ISD last month.
The 6,885-student district in Brazoria County currently uses an at-large method to elect school board members, rather than dividing the district into geographic sections. As a solution, the lawsuit suggests Angleton ISD switch to a system that would elect trustees from one or more properly apportioned single-member electoral districts that could be drawn in which the Hispanic Citizen Voting Age Population would constitute a majority of eligible voters.
The lawsuit points to a lack of diversity among Angleton ISD’s school board and teachers and alleges that, based on the district’s demographics, there should be at least one Hispanic board member. Students of color comprise 67% of the district’s student body, and about 52% of those are Hispanic.
Jaso, a Mexican American, ran for Position 6 on the AISD Board of Trustees in May 2021, but lost to Heather Brewer, a white candidate.
“Hispanic candidates who run for the Board are disadvantaged due to the at-large voting system, which illegally dilutes the votes of ethnic minorities,” the lawsuit reads. “Hispanic children, who are the majority of AISD students, are failed by this system and the Board.”
The lawsuit cites also “an alarming achievement gap” within Angleton ISD as only 46% of Hispanic students, 39% of African American students and 40% of English learners meeting grade level across all subjects and grades for the 2022-23 school year compared to 60% of their white counterparts.
“Unfortunately, the Board’s fiscal and policy decisions have resulted in a significant performance gap between white and minority students,” the lawsuit reads.
Other similar lawsuits involve Spring Branch, Katy, and Humble ISDs. Many other area ISDs have At Large only members, with similar issues of representation. All of those lawsuits, as well as the one against Houston City Council are ongoing, and all of them are dependent on the Voting Rights Act in a way that may be undercut by SCOTUS at any time. I’ll keep an eye on it.
This achievement gap is unacceptable. Now that Mike Miles has fixed Houston ISD, Mike Morath must take action and dispatch Mike Miles down 288 South to fix the failing Angleton ISD!
Most of these lawsuits will fail. As housing patterns become more integrated, it becomes harder to form a district where one racial or ethnic group truly comprises a majority of the adult citizens. A better solution for concerns about minority representation would be to allow a form of voting in which a voter gets 3 votes, and can place them all on one candidate or spread them among several. Minorities which are not segregated in their housing patterns would have a better chance to get their candidate into office, but this approach could also lead to extreme candidates on each end of the spectrum getting elected rather than centrists who have to appeal to a broader electorate.