The HISD Student Congress is a student-run, student-led organization that organizes, represents, and advocates for the 200,000+ students of HISD. Founded in 2014, the organization has had a long history of sustained student advocacy across a number of local issues. Here’s a sample of some of the organization’s work over the years:
- 2014: Mobilized 100+ high school students to attend a school board meeting at Hattie Mae White (Houston Chronicle Twitter)
- 2015: Filed a student-written amicus brief in the Texas Supreme Court to ask the court to address longstanding school inequities in a major statewide school finance lawsuit (Washington Post)
- 2016: Orchestrated the first-ever TEDxHISD event featuring 13 students from 8 high schools on the topic, “Our Shared Future” (TED.com)
- 2017: Advocated for students to participate in the HISD superintendent selection process. (Houston Chronicle)
- 2018: StuCon alumni found the Institute of Engagement, which began with a residential summer civic fellowship at Rice University for 15 high school students (Houston Public Media)
- 2019: Participated in an hour long segment on Houston’s local PBS channel about the challenges facing HISD (Red, White, & Blue).
- 2020: Gathered 3,000 survey responses from students and families concerning school reopenings and successfully advocated in national media for greater flexibility for HISD families on whether to return to school or begin remotely in the fall. (CBS News)
- 2021: Co-filed an amicus brief in the United States Supreme Court for a landmark student free speech case that featured numerous stories of HISD students expressing their political views through social media and the press (Supreme Court)
We are in the process of revamping the HISD Student Congress and are seeking passionate students who care about issues in their schools and communities.
If you are interested in joining us this spring, please fill out this form.
HISD Student Congress 