{"id":715371,"date":"2023-09-26T14:01:00","date_gmt":"2023-09-26T18:01:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.the74million.org\/?post_type=article&#038;p=715371"},"modified":"2023-09-26T12:50:26","modified_gmt":"2023-09-26T16:50:26","slug":"houston-isd-superintendent-says-he-needs-4-5-years-to-turn-the-district-around","status":"publish","type":"article","link":"https:\/\/www.the74million.org\/article\/houston-isd-superintendent-says-he-needs-4-5-years-to-turn-the-district-around\/","title":{"rendered":"Houston ISD Superintendent Says He Needs 4-5 Years to Turn the District Around"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Mike Miles, the superintendent appointed by the state in the summer to turn around the Houston Independent School District, said Saturday he would need the next four to five years to put it on the right path.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe have to build a culture of high performance,\u201d he said during a Texas Tribune Festival panel. \u201cThis is a long-term proposition to change culture. Culture is changed over time.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>He presented himself as single-minded in his goal to improve educational outcomes in Houston ISD, saying he\u2019s acting quickly so students don\u2019t lose more time and he can bring back the democratically-elected school board.<\/p>\n<span class=\"cta_snippet\"><hr><p><em>Get stories like these delivered straight to your inbox. <\/em><a class=\"arrow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.the74million.org\/about\/newsletters\/?utm_source=website&utm_medium=article&utm_campaign=top&utm_id=newsletter\"><strong>Sign up for The 74 Newsletter<\/strong><\/a><\/p><hr><\/span>\n<p>\u201cI&#8217;m trying to do this as fast as we can, but I&#8217;m not sure we can do it overnight,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<p>During the event, Miles said he expects about 70 schools to receive a D or F in the state\u2019s accountability system from an A-F scale, which takes into account state test scores. One of his main tasks at the district&#8217;s helm will be to change that: He&#8217;s required to ensure none of the schools receive a failing grade in multiple consecutive years.<\/p>\n<p>He also gave himself a deadline to start producing results.<\/p>\n<aside class=\"inline_story shortcode simple\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.the74million.org\/article\/we-cant-stay-where-we-are-the-democrat-behind-the-houston-schools-takeover\/\"><figure style=\"background-image: url(https:\/\/www.the74million.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/the-74-interview-harold-dutton-houston.jpg);\"><\/figure><div><span class=\"sans related_tag\">Related<\/span><h4 class=\"sans\">\u2018We Can\u2019t Stay Where We Are\u2019: The Democrat Behind the Houston Schools Takeover<\/h4><\/div><\/a><\/aside>\n<p>\u201cIf we don&#8217;t start to see the needle move in two years, you should fire me,\u201d he said. \u201cThat&#8217;s accountability.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Miles said lack of accountability is a problem in the educator profession. One of the ways he wants to hold educators accountable is by tying compensation to classroom outcomes. Teacher unions say that&#8217;s an unfair and ineffective way to gauge teacher performance since test scores are just a snapshot of what children learn throughout the year and may not reflect their true academic achievement.<\/p>\n<p>Several Houston ISD teachers and community members have criticized him for his \u201cmy way or the highway\u201d approach. He doubled down Saturday, saying those working in the district who don\u2019t like his changes can choose to leave.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIf they don&#8217;t want to work in that kind of culture, they need to make the decisions that&#8217;s right for them,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<p>Miles has been at the helm of Houston ISD for four months and has wasted no time implementing his vision, facing criticism for the abruptness and rigidity of his plan. Since taking over in June, more than 80 campuses have been placed under his so-called \u201c<a href=\"https:\/\/blogs.houstonisd.org\/news\/2023\/06\/12\/hisd-ramps-up-recruitment-for-new-education-system-schools\/\">New Education System<\/a>,\u201d which he describes as an \u201cinnovative staffing model that puts the focus on classroom instruction and improved student outcomes.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The state\u2019s takeover of Houston ISD was in response to years of poor academic outcomes at a single campus in the district, Phillis Wheatley High School; allegations of misconduct against school board members; and the ongoing presence of a conservator who\u2019s been overseeing the district for years. Texas Education Agency Commissioner Mike Morath has said state law required his agency to respond by either closing Wheatley or appointing a new board to oversee the district.<\/p>\n<p>Many parents and teachers have criticized the system as a one-size-fits-all approach that doesn\u2019t bode well for students who learn differently. Educators are tasked with following a strict teaching schedule prepared by district leadership in an effort to save them time they usually spend preparing curriculum. Teachers say the district\u2019s plans limit their ability to adapt their lessons and often need to be corrected.<\/p>\n<p>Miles also converted some of Houston ISD\u2019s libraries to discipline areas and reassigned librarians, which drew the ire of several panel attendees who defended libraries as an important part of a child&#8217;s development.<\/p>\n<p>But Miles said the bad experiences some attendees described were purely anecdotal and framed them as examples of the \u201cstatus quo\u201d thinking prevalent in the state\u2019s education system.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe can&#8217;t keep doing the same things,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<p><em>This article originally appeared in <a href=\"http:\/\/www.texastribune.org\/\">The Texas Tribune<\/a>,\u00a0a member-supported, nonpartisan newsroom informing and engaging Texans on state politics and policy. Learn more at texastribune.org.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Mike Miles, the superintendent appointed by the state in the summer to turn around the Houston Independent School District, said Saturday he would need the next four to five years to put it on the right path. \u201cWe have to build a culture of high performance,\u201d he said during a Texas Tribune Festival panel. \u201cThis [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":715379,"menu_order":0,"template":"","categories":[190],"tags":[5700,1030,2125,6106,974],"series":[],"apple_news_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.the74million.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/article\/715371"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.the74million.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/article"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.the74million.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/article"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/www.the74million.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/article\/715371\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":715382,"href":"https:\/\/www.the74million.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/article\/715371\/revisions\/715382"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.the74million.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/715379"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.the74million.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=715371"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.the74million.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=715371"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.the74million.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=715371"},{"taxonomy":"series","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.the74million.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/series?post=715371"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}