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The Overlooked Story: Northside ISD, AFT, Political Machines, and the Silence from Express-News

The Overlooked Story: Northside ISD, AFT, Political Machines, and the Silence from Express-News

Overview:
On Saturday, August 16, 2025, an event titled "Northside Neighbors for Public Schools" will launch from Knowlton Elementary in Northside ISD, organized by Texas AFT via Mobilize.us — a partisan voter engagement platform. The event is co-branded with "Our Schools, Our Democracy" and involves door-to-door canvassing in NISD neighborhoods, gathering personal voter data.

Key Concerns:

1. Political Use of a Public School & District Branding
- Launching a politically aligned canvass from Knowlton Elementary creates the appearance of district endorsement.
- Partnerships include a sitting City Council member, openly partisan advocacy groups, and national AFT affiliates.
- School board races are supposed to be nonpartisan — a standard NISD maintained for decades until now.

2. Ties to Ongoing Legal Controversy
- Board President Karla Duran is facing a citizen petition for removal over a 2023 DWI arrest, currently in the Fourth Court of Appeals.
- The case was heard in Atascosa County after the Bexar County DA recused himself. No public resolution has been released.
- Three days after the AFT-backed majority was secured, Duran attempted an ex parte hearing to resolve the petition outside of open court.
- The petition is being led by attorney and former Congressman Francisco “Kiko” Canseco (R).

3. Mobilize.us and Voter Targeting
- Mobilize.us is a partisan voter engagement tool historically used by Democratic campaigns.
- Participation in the canvass requires providing personal information, creating a political data pipeline.

4. Board History and National Influence
- Former trustees Bobby Blount (former president, Texas Caucus of Black School Board Members), Carol Harle, Karen Freeman, Corinne Saldana, and Homer Guevara led during NISD's H-E-B Board of Excellence recognition.
- National AFT funding changed local elections, helping unseat Saldana and Guevara in 2023.
- Blount still carries $15,800 in campaign debt.
- The union opposed a 2% raise for auxiliary staff in the past, then approved the same raise with the AFT-backed majority while calling the board “pro-worker.”

5. Three AFT Organizations and Political Clout
- San Antonio has three AFT locals: San Antonio Alliance, Northeast AFT, and Northside AFT (professionalized in 2018 under Wanda Longoria).
- Longoria, once a teacher acknowledging funding issues were “not the district’s fault,” is now Texas AFT Secretary-Treasurer.
- Congressman Joaquin Castro’s mother was treasurer for Sonia Jasso’s campaign (Jasso is now NISD Vice President).

6. The Political Machine in Action
- The same network shifted support from Gerald Lopez to Ric Galvan for District 6.
- The Bexar County Democratic Party, described by columnist Elena Ayala as plagued by “toxic personalities,” reflects the same environment shaping NISD elections.

Why This Matters:
- NISD enrollment is already under pressure.
- Public trust is damaged when the board president’s DWI case is shielded from public transparency.
- Razor-thin election margins (Galvan by 25 votes, Freeman by 51) mean partisan canvassing can easily tip results.
- This is not about Republicans vs. Democrats — it’s about protecting one public school system for all students from partisan control.