Houston Independent School District takeover

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The Houston Independent School District takeover is a 2023 takeover of the state's largest school district by the Texas Education Agency, replacing the superintendent and elected board of trustees with a board of managers and a new superintendent appointed by the Texas commissioner of education.

Contents

History

During the 84th Texas Legislature in 2015, State Representative Harold Dutton Jr. amended House Bill 1842 to allow the Texas Education Agency (TEA) to take over the Houston ISD. His alma mater, Wheatley High School (Houston), had received low academic ratings from TEA for several years. [1] TEA investigators recommended that the elected board be replaced after finding ethics violations and that the board violated open meetings act requirements. [2]

House Bill 1842

Passed in 2015, HB 1842 states that if any campuses fail to meet state standards for five of more years, the state can replace the elected board or close the school. [3]

Senate Bill 1882

Passed in 2017, SB 1882 allows school districts to avoid takeover or closure for two years by forming a partnership with a nonprofit or charter operator to operate a failing campus. [4] The new charter school or other operator is also eligible to receive more money per student than the original school district. [3]

Conservators

TEA has appointed conservators to oversee various schools and policy changes in the district. Conservators have broad power to evaluate a district, initiate changes, and coordinate the implementation of policies. [5] In 2019, the state-appointed conservator prevented elected trustees from selecting a lone finalist for superintendent. [6] After this, HISD was run by the Chief Academic Officer in place as an interim superintendent for over three years. [7]

Conservator appointments

  • 2020: district-wide special education conservators [8]
  • 2017: district-wide conservator overseeing the school board and low-performing campuses [6]
  • 2016: campus-level academic conservator for Kashmere High School [8]

Appointments

On June 1, 2023, the Texas Education Agency released the names of the superintendent and board of managers appointed by Mike Morath to lead the district. [9] Mike Miles, the charter school leader and former superintendent of Dallas Independent School District whose time overlapped with Morath as a board member, was named as the superintendent. This announcement was preceded by a rumor in May from then-Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner about his selection, which was denied by the TEA. [10] The nine appointed board members are mostly parents of HISD students. They are a racially diverse group that largely lives in more affluent neighborhoods on the west side of Houston. Only one educator with classroom experience was selected. [9] One board of managers appointee, Janette Garza Lindner, had previously run for the board of trustees in 2021 and lost. [11]

Members of the Board of Managers

Sources: [9] [12]

The appointed board members have intentionally chosen to be less responsive to community concerns, choosing to provide a unified front in support of the state-appointed superintendent. Residents have also complained of a lack of both responsiveness and transparency. [13] The board has adopted guiding policies that focus primarily on the state's criteria for returning local control and exclude priorities included by past elected boards such as autonomy and equity. [14] Adopted academic goals are modest early on, seeking 1% gains in reading and math performance with relatively large gains of 15% targeted after five years. [15] [16]

Policy and administrative changes

Upon the announcement of his appointment, Miles simultaneously announced broad changes within the district. These changes include:

New Education System (NES)

Shortly after his appointment, Miles announced the creation of a "New Education System" (NES) which would involve large changes at 28 schools in the district. [23] Personnel changes included significant shifts in staffing such as requiring all NES campus employees to reapply for their jobs, increased teacher pay, the hiring of teacher support staff, evaluation based on standardized test scores, and the removal of librarians. [11] [24]

Hospital model

A core aspect of the New Education System is what Miles describes as the "hospital model." Under this model, teachers are paid $85,000 on average alongside a $10,000 stipend, and they receive the support of apprentices and learning coaches. Both teacher and principal evaluations will be heavily weighted by standardized test scores. They will also include classroom observation and an action plan for the future. Principal evaluations will begin in the 2023-2024 school year and teacher evaluations will begin in the 2024-2025 school year. [25]

Libraries converted to team centers

One of the changes that received widespread pushback is the removal of librarians and media specialists alongside the conversion of libraries to "team centers." [26] These team centers were initially described as places for students removed from their classrooms for misbehavior. In response to the pushback, Miles stated that the team centers would also be used for enrichment and differentiated instruction with a learning coach. [26] After his appointment, Miles questioned the value of librarians and was unable to describe their role in detail, stating "I'd rather have a high-quality teacher getting paid a lot, than have a librarian doing what, checking out books?" [27] These changes follow a 2022 strategic plan by then-superintendent Millard House II that included plans to equip every HISD campus with a librarian or media specialist. The plan was created in response to persistent community demands for increased library access across the district. [28] [29]

NES-Aligned schools

57 additional campuses have adopted the New Education System-Aligned (NES-Aligned) model. These campuses will receive new curriculum and $10,000 stipends for educators, but not the higher salaries of the NES campuses. [23]

Sunrise Centers

Seven "Sunrise Centers" have been created to support meeting the holistic needs of the district's students and families. [30] Through partnerships with organizations throughout the city such as BakerRipley and YMCA, community members receive access to mental health, clothing, food, and other resources. [31]

Community concerns

Community members have raised various concerns after learning of Miles' appointment and his policy proposals. These include:

Enrollment declines, financial issues, and school closures

With the exception of 2020-2021 during the pandemic, HISD saw its biggest enrollment drop in a decade after the takeover, increasing concerns about the sustainability of Miles' plans and reforms. [38] New Education System (NES) schools saw large drops in student enrollment compared to the rest of the district. [39] Miles is considering bringing a list of schools for potential closure ahead of the 2024-2025 school year as a cost-savings measure. The district projects a budget deficit of almost $250 million after implementing Miles' reforms, however the district currently has enough in reserves to cover the costs. [23]

Curriculum concerns

Throughout the school year, teachers have raised concerns that curriculum materials frequently contain errors and are not provided well enough in advance. [40] Poor curriculum materials circulated under the takeover administration include sexually explicit middle school content, which prompted the creation of district-wide process review for inappropriate material, and the development of teacher review processes in early October. [41] After widespread pushback in November from parents and teachers to a PragerU video shown to students, the district committed to removing the conservative media outlet's videos from curriculum materials. [42] The video was shown to students in "Art of Thinking" classes, a new course introduced by Miles in 85 campuses as part of the New Education System reforms. [43]

Regaining local control

The Texas Education Agency has provided three criteria that the school district must meet in order to end the takeover and regain local control. Those are: "No campuses should get failing grades for multiple years, the special education program should be in compliance with state and federal regulations, and the board should demonstrate procedures and behavior focused on student outcomes." [44] [45]

Other district takeovers

The Texas Education Agency has taken over seven other school districts since 2000, and 15 in the past three decades, replacing their elected boards with boards of managers appointed by the commissioner. [46] [47] TEA has also intervened through appointments such as conservators or monitors in at least 51 school districts. [48] As of 2023, these districts are:

North Forest ISD, 2008-2010

North Forest ISD was officially taken over in 2008, after a history of interventions by the Texas Education Agency dating back to at least 1988. After spending over $1 million on state-appointed leadership including the superintendent, conservators, monitors, and board of managers over five years, local control was regained in November 2010. [48] While test scores rose, a third of the district's schools failed to meet academic targets for the 2010-2011 school year. An external audit found problems with misspending despite the appointment of a financial conservator several years prior. [50] Less than a year after returning local control to North Forest, TEA revoked the academic accreditation of the district for the 2011-2012 school year and ordered the district's closure and annexation. [51] After years of appeals, the district was annexed into Houston ISD in July 2013. [52]

Beaumont ISD, 2014-2020

Beaumont ISD was taken over in 2014, and returned to local control in 2020. [53] A 2020 investigation by the Houston Chronicle found that the school district's suspension rate increased dramatically during the first year of the takeover, and continued to increase to the point where students were suspended at a rate six times the average for Texas school districts. During the 2018-2019 school year, Beaumont ISD had a rate of 46 out-of-school suspensions per 100 students, the highest by far in the state. Black students made up 60% of the student population but received 87% of suspensions. [54]

In 2018, three campuses which had not met state standards for at least four years due to low test scores were at risk of triggering House Bill 1842. [55] As a result, those schools were turned over to a charter school operator in alignment with Senate Bill 1882. The district was already under state leadership but the schools could still be closed. [56] As of the 2023-2024 school year, all three campuses are now run by Third Future Schools, which was founded by Houston ISD's state-appointed superintendent Mike Miles. [57] [58]

National research on school district takeovers

A 2021 study on state takeovers across the United States since the late 1980s shows "no evidence that lead to academic improvements." [59] [33] Through the removal or replacement of school boards that are locally elected, takeovers also close an entry point into political participation and elected office for communities of color. [60] Cities with higher rates of Black political participation are more likely to experience a state takeover, as well as the most punitive forms of state takeovers. Increases in state and federal funding for school districts also correlate with a higher possibility of a state takeover. [61]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Houston Independent School District</span> Public school system in Texas

The Houston Independent School District (HISD) is the largest public school system in Texas, and the eighth-largest in the United States. Houston ISD serves as a community school district for most of the city of Houston and several nearby and insular municipalities in addition to some unincorporated areas. Like most districts in Texas, it is independent of the city of Houston and all other municipal and county jurisdictions. The district has its headquarters in the Hattie Mae White Educational Support Center in Houston.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sam Houston Math, Science, and Technology Center</span> Public school (u.s.) school

Sam Houston Math, Science, and Technology Center (SHMSTC), formerly known as Sam Houston High School is a high school located in the Hawthorne Place and Timber Garden subdivisions, in Houston, Texas, United States. Sam Houston Math, Science, and Technology Center handles grades nine through twelve and is part of the Houston Independent School District. Before 1955, it was located in Downtown Houston.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">North Forest Independent School District</span> Former school district in Texas

North Forest Independent School District (NFISD) was a school district in northeast Houston, Texas. Established in the early 1920s in a low-income white area, it later became majority-black and black-run. The district had a history of financial and academic issues from the late 1980s until 2013. On July 1, 2013, it was closed by order of the state and absorbed into the Houston Independent School District (HISD).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Wheatley High School (Houston)</span> School

Phillis Wheatley High School is a secondary school located at 4801 Providence Street in Houston, Texas, United States with a ZIP code of 77020. Wheatley is a part of the Houston Independent School District. Wheatley, named after Phillis Wheatley, is located inside the 610 Loop in the Fifth Ward.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jones Futures Academy</span> High school in Houston, Texas, USA

Jones Futures Academy, previously Jesse H. Jones High School, is a public high school in South Park, Houston, Texas, United States. It has Dual Credit Magnet Program with emphasis in Health Sciences and Petroleum Engineering. Students who maintain the course of the entire program would graduate high school in May/June of their Sr. year and will have the ability to receive an associate degree in August following their graduation in one of their offered degree programs. Jones, which serves grades 9 through 12, is a part of the Houston Independent School District. Jones was named after Jesse Holman Jones.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Crosby Independent School District</span> School district in Texas, United States

Crosby Independent School District is a public school district based in unincorporated Harris County, Texas, United States within the Houston–Sugar Land–Baytown metropolitan area. Crosby ISD serves the communities of Barrett and Crosby.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Worthing High School (Houston)</span> Public high school in Houston, Texas, United States

Evan Edward Worthing Early College High School is a secondary school located in the Sunnyside area of Houston, Texas, United States.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">High School for Law and Justice</span> Magnet school in Texas, United States

High School for Law and Justice (HSLJ), formerly the High School for Law Enforcement and Criminal Justice, is a high school located in Houston, Texas, United States. The school serves grades 9 through 12 and is a part of the Houston Independent School District.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Beaumont Independent School District</span> School district in Texas

Beaumont Independent School District is a U.S. public school district serving Beaumont in Southeast Texas. The district originated in the annexation of the former Beaumont ISD by the South Park Independent School District after its trustees voted in 1983 to dissolve it as the culmination of a struggle over desegregation of both districts. The original Beaumont ISD had previously absorbed the smaller French ISD.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Furr High School</span> Public school in Houston, Texas, United States

Ebbert L. Furr High School is a secondary school located in Houston, Texas, United States. Furr, which serves grades 9 through 12, is a part of the Houston Independent School District.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kashmere High School</span> High school in Houston, Texas, United States

Kashmere High School is a secondary school in Houston, Texas that serves grades 9 through 12; it is a part of the Houston Independent School District. It is located in the Trinity Gardens neighborhood, and its namesake is the nearby Kashmere Gardens neighborhood.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kendleton Independent School District</span> Former school district in Texas

Kendleton Independent School District was a public school district based in Powell Point, unincorporated Fort Bend County, Texas, United States, north of the city of Kendleton. The district served Kendleton and Powell Point. Powell Point is among the oldest historically black schools in the state.

La Marque Independent School District (LMISD) was a public school district based in La Marque, Texas, in the Houston metropolitan area. In addition to much of La Marque, the district served Bayou Vista, Tiki Island, and portions of Texas City. As of July 1, 2016 it consolidated into the Texas City Independent School District (TCISD).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">North Forest High School</span> Public school in Texas, United States

North Forest High School (NFHS) is a secondary school located in Houston, Texas, United States. The school is a part of the Houston Independent School District (HISD); it was a part of the North Forest Independent School District (NFISD) until the district closed on July 1, 2013.

Leader's Academy High School for Business and Academic Success, previously the High School for Business and Economic Success (HSBES), was a Grade 7–12 state charter school located on the campus of Windsor Village United Methodist Church in Windsor Village, Houston, in the U.S. state of Texas. The school was formerly named Gulf Shores Academy. In 2011 it merged with Benji's Special Educational Academy into Victory Preparatory Academy.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Greater Houston Partnership</span>

The Greater Houston Partnership (GHP) is the largest chamber of commerce in the Houston area. The Partnership is an economic development organization for the Greater Houston area. The Partnership works to make Houston greater by promoting economic development, foreign trade and investment, and by advocating for efficient and effective government that supports, rather than impedes, business growth. The Partnership also convenes key stakeholders to solve the region's most pressing issues. The Partnership was formed in 1989 in a merger of the Greater Houston Chamber of Commerce, the Houston Economic Development Council and the Houston World Trade Association. Today, the Partnership serves the 12-county greater Houston region and represents a member roster of 900 businesses and institutions. Members of the Partnership account for one-fifth of all jobs in Houston. They engage in various initiatives, committees and task forces.

Girls and Boys Preparatory Academy (GBPA) was a K-12 state-chartered primary and secondary school located in Greater Sharpstown, Houston, Texas. It operated from 1995, making it one of the first Texas charter schools, to 2015.

Airick Journey Crabill is an American education reform advocate and public speaker on education reform. He currently serves as the director of governance at the Council of the Great City Schools. Prior to this position, he was Texas Education Agency's Deputy Commissioner for Governance. Crabill served eight years (2008–2016) on the board of the Kansas City Public Schools, serving as president for a majority of his tenure. He is the author of the 2023 book Great on Their Behalf: Why School Boards Fail, How Yours Can Become Effective.

Mike Morath is an American software developer and investor. He is the commissioner of the Texas Education Agency. Prior to joining the agency, he served as a trustee for the Dallas independent school District, where he advocated for school reform and home-rule. Morath began his career in the technology sector.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mike Miles (school superintendent)</span> American educator

F. Mike Miles is the current superintendent of Houston Independent School District. He previously served as the superintendent of the Dallas Independent School District (DISD) from July 1, 2012 to June 25, 2015, and previously in Colorado Springs, Colorado.

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