Newly formed political action committee is raising big money in support of HISD’s proposed $4.4 billion bond issue

HOUSTON, Texas (KTRK) — A newly formed political action committee is raising big money in support of HISD’s proposed $4.4 billion bond, and much of that money is coming from supporters of a pro-charter school group.

Houstonians for Safe and Healthy Schools has raised more than $755,000 since its founding in August, according to its most recent campaign finance report.

More than half of that money — $420,000 — came from just six donors, who gave a combined $115,000 to the Charter Schools Now PAC.

Members of the anti-bond group Community Voices for Public Education held a fundraiser for Houstonians for Safe and Healthy Schools Wednesday evening.

Participation in the fundraiser cost up to $100,000. According to a flyer obtained by Eyewitness News, the guest list included several people associated with the construction industry.

That’s notable because nearly $4 billion of the bond money would go toward rebuilding and renovating several HISD campuses.

“They may be able to be leased or sold to charter schools in the future. “So this is another way to put public money into private pockets,” said Sarah Terrell.

“Houston has never seen anything so bad and crass,” she added.

Critics say the bond’s price is too high, even as HISD insists it doesn’t need to raise taxes to absorb the additional debt.

“Five different companies and financial institutions have looked at this, and we come up with about $5 billion without raising taxes,” Superintendent Mike Miles said in a previous interview.

Without the new bond, however, HISD’s current tax rate would eventually decline after it pays off old debt.

“It’s going to be a whole lot of extras that are going to go into a lot of people’s pockets, and we won’t be able to figure that out until it’s gone,” Ruth Hoffman-Lach said.

The bond will appear as Propositions A and B on the Nov. 5 ballot.

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