A local activist group held a small demonstration on March 5 at State Representative District 132 Mike Schofield's office in Katy, to protest his co-authoring of HB3. A spokesperson for the group, Indivisible Katy Huddle, said that the proposed legislation establishes “a school voucher program under the terms ‘education savings account program.’”

The event took place at noon at Schofield’s Katy office, which is located on the campus of Houston Community College at 22910 Colonial Parkway in Katy. Schofield, whose district includes much of the greater Katy area, was not present during the protest, which consisted of ten people from Indivisible Katy Huddle peacefully displaying signs.

Group leader Marsha Kamish also posted an open letter to Schofield on the exterior door of his office. The document reads:

Mike Schofield

Why did you co-author a bill to support public money going to private schools?

· Texas ranks 43rd in the nation for school funding

· Basic allotment of $6160 has not changed since 2019

· The total per-student funding in Texas is $4,000 below the national average

· Texas incurred a $2.5 billion shortfall in special education funding

· 158 of 254 Texas counties have no private school option

Is Private education better than public schools? Research has shown that it is not:

· Private School Vouchers Don’t Improve Student Achievement

· Private School Voucher Programs Lack Accountability

· Private School Vouchers Don’t Help Students with Disabilities

· Private School Vouchers Don’t Protect Against Discrimination

· Private School Vouchers Exacerbate Segregation

Group members said that they also planned to write postcards to Schofield opposing the bill.

About halfway through their hour-long protest, the group was approached by campus security, who told them that they were “blocking access” and asked them to move off the sideway to a grassy area, which they did, Kamish told the Katy Times.

The Katy Times reached out to Representative Schofield for comment but did not receive a response by press time.


The HB3 bill, which has many co-authors including other legislators who represent the greater Katy area, such as District 26 Representative Matt Morgan (Katy-Richmond), District 28 Representative Gary Gates

(Fort Bend County), District 85 Representative Stan Kitzman (Waller County), and District 138 Representative Lacey Hull (SH 6/Barker Cypress Road area), was scheduled for a public hearing on March 11, after the Katy Times went to press for this issue.

Indivisible Katy Huddle has been active for eight years, Kamish said, and the group meets once a month, usually at the Cinco Ranch Library, often with speakers and projects, such as writing postcards to our representatives.


“We've also visited our elected officials' offices, attended protests and lobby days in Harris County and in Austin, written letters and postcards, and some of us are also VDVRs, election officials, and precinct chairs,” said Kamish. “We're sort of a sister group to Katy Area Democrats. They meet at night, and we meet during the day. We're more activist and they're more educational [in] my opinion.”