Houston Independent School District Superintendent Mike Miles recently visited Jack Yates High School to directly address the criticisms surrounding his initiatives, particularly the lack of transparency and concerns about the impact on communities of color.
Miles responded to these concerns by acknowledging the need for improved communication and engagement with the community. He assured attendees that he is committed to transparency and pledged to foster open dialogue with stakeholders.
During the meeting, Miles outlined his plans for the upcoming year, including the implementation of the New Education System (NES) initiatives and a new disciplinary approach involving a “Zoom room” for misbehaving students.
Miles explained that students found to be acting out or otherwise exhibiting poor conduct in class would be relocated to a room where they would watch a television streaming the teacher’s lesson from afar, isolating them from the class.
“What about when it’s everyone [disrupting the classroom]?” one educator asked in the audience. “How will you be able to handle classroom management…when it’s a part of the culture?”
Parents at the meeting were concerned about the fate of predominantly Black schools and questioned whether the superintendent had any plans to close them down.
“There is a perception of some in the Black community including myself, there seems to be an underlying plan to close these schools,” said Ted Robertson, Yates alumnus (’71). “It seems that there is an effort to diminish the student body and when you get such a small student body then you have a legitimate reason to close the school.”
Miles reassured that no school will be closed and the funds for the NES and NES-aligned schools will be used for highly effective teachers, special education, magnet programs, and career technical education.
“There is only so much I can do in one year to change around decades of inequity,” said Miles. “With regard to closing schools, there’s not even close to any conversation that I’ve ever had about closing any of the high schools. The only thing that we’ve talked about… this year we are going to look at the smaller schools… we’re going to see if it’s feasible to keep them going.”
A significant point of discussion was Miles’ definition of effective teachers. He clarified that teachers would be evaluated based on the “growth” in their students’ academic performance, taking into account their starting point and progress made.
“If I’m a fifth grade teacher, and my kids are reading at a second grade level and I do such a good job that they’re reading at a fourth grade level, they are still a year behind, and I don’t get any credit for two years of growth?,” Miles explained. “The answer is yes, you should get credit…even if the kid is not proficient yet.”
Some community members agreed that the dialogue was civil and will give Miles a chance to prove that he can turn the school district around.
“We have to give him a chance. We’re not just going to throw him to the side. We’ll give him the opportunity to keep his word,” said Robertson.