What will be left of the Houston ISD if it meets Superintendent Mike Miles’ goal of only A and B rated schools and they all want to cash in on Senate Bill 1882 allowing them to work independently from the district?
Board member Angela Flowers spoke to this point at Thursday night’s HISD board meeting when she asked Miles about his vision of what the district will look like in the future and how it will operate. As she persisted in her questions, Board President Ric Campo tried unsuccessfully to shut her down, stating that she had gone off topic.
The other major issue Thursday night was, of course, the agenda item unanimously approved by the board clearing the way for the administration to proceed with cutting teachers and staff as deemed necessary.
This, of course, begged the question: why is a massive Reduction in Force needed when HISD is hosting another teacher hiring event scheduled for this Saturday at the Delmar Fieldhouse?
As some public speakers noted: Is this HISD’s chance to rid itself of what it considers problem teachers and replace them with more docile ones, attracted to the district by the chance to earn some really high salaries at schools employing Superintendent Mike Miles’ controversial New Education Schools?
“Is the RIF a loyalty purge?” asked elected trustee Maria Benzon and a former HISD teacher who left after the state takeover of HISD. “First the teachers who speak up; who question authority, who have the community’s trust? Then replace them with people who won’t? Then panic when you can’t find enough warm bodies to fill the classrooms?
“Is the RIF manufactured chaos? Create confusion and instability so the public loses faith in public schools,” she asked. “If you RIF and recruit at the same time , the problem was never about the budget.”
It could be argued that the reduction in force is needed because with 12 schools being closed, the consolidation of others and a dropoff in student population, the district needs fewer teachers.
And it could be explained that even with RIFs, a hiring event is still needed because the district still needs teachers in certain content areas (special ed for instance is always a tough one to fill).
Or it could be argued that both of the above are true but that this also represents a chance to do some weeding out of the troublesome from HISD’s ranks.
Actual names will be submitted to the board for approval later. Asked if she expected to be among them, teacher and president of the Houston Education Association Michelle Williams who has had her firings by the HISD board reversed on appeal twice, said she didn’t care. And repeated her contention that the way HISD is operating some of its classes is a violation of federal law.
During the back and forth discussion between Flowers and Miles – in which each one frequently interrupted the other – it was revealed that the board never saw the actual applications from the four schools –Kinder High School for the Performing and Visual Arts, Energy Institute High School, Challenge Early College High School and Houston Academy for International Studies – they approved to become independent in the 2026-27 school year. Miles said if the board wants to see the applications going foreard, they can make that happen.
This came up after Miles assured the board that high ratings from the Texas Education Agency alone do not guarantee that a school gets to move to “Level 5” independence — that there are assessments made based on what’s in the actual applications.
Miles had said in the future not only Level 5 schools that have A ratings for four consecutive years, but Level 4 ratings (As with one B) as well, could be considered to move out independently with their own boards.
This sparked more questions from Flowers.
Specifically, will all the district’s 274 (or fewer) schools operate with their own boards that HISD trustees will then oversee and “have we created a monster?” Miles assured her that he didn’t see that happening and the only “monster” had been the previous situation in which all schools operated with “unearned autonomy.”
Miles said that the board can pause the process of allowing more schools to gain independent status at any time.
Flowers then asked: “So can I ask you your real end game vision? Go slow towards what? What do you see as your right fit?
“We’re diverting from the broader picture here,” Campo said interrupting, “This is not a debate about 1882s right now.” Flowers insisted she was not debating, she just wanted her questions answered. He then started to tell her what her question was. And she said no, that wasn’t her question. And kept going.
“So then 80 percent, 90 percent of the district could apply. So a board would have to manage innumerable other boards so I don’t see how that’s setting us up for success,” Flowers said.
“Where does it stop and have we created a monster that a board cannot manage?” Flowers asked. ” What are the parameters around size? Because we are now making a virtual decision that then says we’re fundamentally changing what our district is and what it means. And so I want to make sure that we’re all super clear of the down the line ramifications.”
Flowers’ questions Thursday night with the attempted intervention by Campo were a rare event from a board that normally keeps any disagreements and uncomfortable moments behind closed doors.
Given the abrupt dismissal last year of four of the original state-appointed board members – the ones who asked more challenging questions in public – will Flowers be among the RIFed?
