Texas officials seized control of Houston’s public school district on Wednesday, marking the latest step in a decades-long legal battle between progressives and conservatives over the state’s largest school district, which educates over 200,000 pupils. According to ABC 13, Texas Education Agency Commissioner Mike Morath remarked, “Ultimately, this intervention is necessary.” Morath said in a letter to the district’s trustees that a new superintendent and board would be appointed following the takeover. According to his statement to The Washington Post, the decision was prompted by “campuses that have lacked the essential structural support from the district for years, resulting in chronic low performance.” The events of Wednesday, however, have been deemed politically motivated by liberal MPs and the state teachers’ union, who have expressed shock and outrage. “It will be extremely harmful to children, families, the city, and businesses,” Democratic state representative Jarvic Johnson told the Post.