The Houston Independent School District , which over the years has been no stranger to contentious issues and front-page news, may have had its most drama-filled summer on record.
The Texas Education Agency’s takeover of one of the nation’s largest school districts, the appointment of Mike Miles as superintendent after he received less than stellar reviews and a vote of “no confidence” from Dallas ISD, and the myriad of reactions to Miles’ plans to overhaul HISD have made national and international news.
Though Miles’ plans aim to improve low-performing schools and address the achievement gap, they have caused ongoing protests and rebukes. Yet, neither Miles, nor the state-appointed HISD Board which replaced the elected board members, have wavered.
So, what should HISD parents expect to see in schools when their children return to the classroom on Monday, Aug. 28?
TEACHERS
Parents can expect to see non-certified teachers in many HISD classrooms. The Board of Managers gave Miles the authority to seek waivers from TEA allowing the district to employ non-certified teachers and administrators (assistant principals) to address what was an overwhelming teacher shortage, brought on in large part by a mass exodus of teachers who left HISD for other school districts because they philosophically disagreed with Miles’ New Education System direction, including video monitoring of classrooms, scripted curriculums, a hospital-modeled “pay-for-performance” teach evaluation model, etc. The mass teacher exodus exacerbated an already existing issue as many teachers in multiple ISDs left the profession post-COVID.
According to Miles, HISD is on track to have teachers in all classrooms. At press time, HISD reported roughly 63 remaining teacher vacancies after starting the summer needing to fill almost 900 spots.
If the first day of the 2023-24 school year finds zero vacancies, parents and others are still concerned with the quality of instruction students will receive due to the number of non-certified teachers. Some veteran educators feel Miles’ policies strip teachers of their “superpower”—the ability to find unique and creative ways to reach their students—due to scripted curriculums and what some view as a directive to teach only to state assessment tests.
“I got my degree and I became certified to be a teacher,” said former HISD educator Stephanie Myers. “And to think that they would just hire someone off the street to be a teacher and then entice them with money…it shows what they feel about these communities.”
SCHOOL OPERATING HOURS
HISD schools will operate on an extended schedule, from 6:30 a.m. to 5 p.m., to offer flexibility for working parents. NES schools will also modify their before and after-school care hours, operating from 5:30 a.m. to 5 p.m., further accommodating working parents. Many see this as a positive move, especially since traditional school hours (students release at 3 p.m.) were created to support an agrarian society of a century past and conflict with the modern 9-to-5 work schedule.
However, in late August, employees in HISD’s Human Resources department were told to work overtime without pay, to be available over weekends and to not make travel plans until September. It is not yet clear how HISD’s extended schedule will impact school employees and their pay.
CURRICULUM CHANGES
Per an HISD official statement, “The district will choose and purchase curriculum materials [and] provide guidance for lesson plans.”
Several current and former teachers have issues with what they’re calling scripted lesson plans.
“This limits a teacher’s style of teaching. All students don’t learn the same. We have students who can barely read in the eighth grade. Just imagine introducing them to new material,” said former HISD educator Calvin Mitchell.
LIBRARIES
Miles’ plan to convert libraries in 28 predominantly Black schools into “Team Centers” may have received the most backlash from local community members, HISD parents and even national media. The “Team Centers’ ‘ will be the rooms where students deemed discipline problems and removed from their classes will go to receive Zoom classroom instruction. Part of this move includes “reassigning” librarians and media specialists.
Cheryl Hensley, the longtime librarian at MacGregor and Lockhart elementary schools, who is now out of a job, views being “reassigned” as “fired” and fears the impact lost libraries and librarians will have on students.
“My first thought is how unfair it is for those kids to take away their lifeline, their lifelong learning, their choice in reading,” said Hensley, who urges parents to check out their children’s schools to see if they still have a library, and one with books, and if their children will have a choice to access those books.
CLASSROOM MANAGEMENT
Video monitors in classrooms are a prominent feature of Miles’ plan. They will be used to identify “discipline problems” who will then be removed from classrooms and taken to campus Team Centers.
However, because of both conscious and unconscious bias shown by countless studies to impact how teachers “see” and interpret the actions of Black students, particularly Black boys, video monitors in classrooms could be extremely problematic. One Yale study asked teachers to observe preschool students and note any who acted out (broke rules). What the teachers didn’t know was, none of the students they observed broke any rules, as the study was really trying to identify which students the teachers focused their attention on. The eye-tracking technology used revealed, to the surprise of no one, that the overwhelming majority of study participants identified Black male students as the biggest rule-breakers (even though no rules were broken). And the technology revealed that the teachers focused their eyes for the vast majority of time on Black boys far more than any other demographic.
Teachers have a worry of their own with the video monitors, as expressed by one HISD educator who asked not to be named.
“That’s Big Brother watching our every move. ‘Are we deviating from the curriculum script? Are we teaching for the test or doing things we’ve done in the past that we know work, but aren’t part of the script?’ If so, are they gonna send school police to yank us out of the classroom like on that show ‘Handmaid’s Tale,’” she wondered.
MAGNET SCHOOLS
Moreover, Miles sought the authority to make sweeping changes to magnet programs. However, during a recent board meeting the Board of Managers limited his power in this area to only include the 85 schools in the reformed New Education System (NES). Of those 85 schools, 12 are magnet schools. Miles plans to expand NES schools from 85 to 150 campuses over the next few years, which will theoretically allow him to impact more magnet schools.
In June, the board unanimously approved a suspension of the board’s current policy regarding magnet schools, allowing for Miles to implement his changes.
The Defender was not able to verify what those magnet school sweeping changes will entail, however, Miles promised that the majority of NES schools would be able to continue their programming, even if not officially named as a magnet program.
“We’re going to accommodate magnet programs in NES schools and provide for more experiences, more programs,” he said. “Out-of-zone folks can continue to go there and know that their kids are getting those programs.”
Still, there’s no telling what changes could be lurking. As one ELA teacher (Mrs. Yarborough) said during the Aug. 5 rally at the Hattie Mae White Education Building protesting Miles’ library plan, changes could be a matter of, “If it’s not tested on STAAR, it can and will be cut.”
“Books aren’t on STAAR, so what do they do, they take away our books, take away our libraries and our librarians. Spanish isn’t tested on STAAR, so they’re taking away dual language. Art, music, PE is not tested on STAAR, so they’re paying those teachers less. [Miles] literally said they bring less value. And they’re gonna replace them with contractors. Inquiry is not tested on STAAR. Wonder is not tested on STAAR. Joy is not tested on STAAR. So, they’re taking all these things out by removing our magnet programs, by giving them scripted curriculums,” she said.
