HISD - State of Texas to Takeover School District

[Samson's Wig 3182]

6 hours ago, Nivek said:

My wife talked me down and took the lead.  I typed a few paragraphs about being inappropriate, distressing our kid, and provoking anxiety when he is in a difficult enough transition only to witness a fistfight on the first day of school and how that impacted not only our kid but some of his friends (who are not ASD).    My wife wrote the rest up and then contacted everyone she could and attached the syllabus of 2 different teachers to show how anxiety-provoking/hostile the math teacher's syllabus was.   We were in the process of switching teachers when they fucked that up.   The teacher seemed to be oblivious to her own perception and reached out to us.   Our kid came home, having expected a new schedule, but said it was fine and to keep the current one.  The teacher was trying to be nicer and more accommodating.   Some other parents we know reached out as well, but went straight to the principal and the 6th grade dean.  It seems to have worked for them as well.  Everyone is cautiously optimistic.   

 

My son (also ASD) and daughter also witnessed a fight in their first week of 6th grade in AISD.  It was two girls and supposedly resulted in a broken nose and jaw for one of them.   I was upset when I heard about it, but neither kid seemed remotely upset or bothered.  I'm now concerned that we've raised a couple of violence-loving weirdos.

I grew up in a rough community in West Texas.  There were fights almost every day, and often I was involved.  I would not let one fight derail you too much.  Things are still so much better than they used to be on this front, and there's no school on earth that doesn't have fights between kids on occasion. 

As for the hostile syllabus, that really sucks and I'm curious to know more about what made it so awful.  I'm glad the teacher tried to make things right.

[CooterBrown 17937]

12 hours ago, Samson's Wig said:

As a parent of two special needs kids (one with dyslexia and dysgraphia, the other with autism), it fucking infuriates me.  It's especially infuriating in AISD when the main issue is funding, despite paying out the ass in property taxes for education. Fuck those fucking fucks who use kids to score political points.  Texas should be ashamed of itself.

We're fortunate to have the means to get our kids the help they need outside of the school system.  I really feel for those parents who can't.

What's fucked about it is the districts aren't allowed to allocate more money even if they want to. They get in trouble and lose funding if they fund more than 8% of the population.

My oldest is dyslexic and we also did services outside of the district. We had a private CALT do two sessions a week at $120/session for two years. That was painful.

Edited September 8, 2023 by CooterBrown

[tokamak 6353]

1 hour ago, CooterBrown said:

What's fucked about it is the districts aren't allowed to allocate more money even if they want to. They get in trouble and lose funding if they fund more than 8% of the population.

My oldest is dyslexic and we also did services outside of the district. We had a private CALT do two sessions a week at $120/session for two years. That was painful.

What's also fucked (there's a lot of fucking going on) is that "public schools are failing special ed kids" is one of the biggest attack lines coming from anti-public school groups. So they purposely and deliberately underfund SPED, then turn right around and say underserved SPED kids are the reason we need to shut down public education and turn it all over to charters.

[atomheartbevo 89465]

Don't know what happened before this (outside of her going over her allotted time), but I won't be surprised if there's more of this type of stuff.

 

[Pancho 44516]

 

[kevwun 15672]

Just some light fraud.  No big deal.

[NeverMarryAStripper 21783]

Just wait until Abbott gets his school vouchers passed

[tokamak 6353]

16 minutes ago, NeverMarryAStripper said:

Just wait until Abbott gets his school vouchers passed

Like hogs at a trough. Tax dollars -> corporatized charter school networks -> political contributions. And the majority of voters will lap it up. Really impressive long con they’ve run. 

[Frank Drebin 5618]

32 minutes ago, tokamak said:

Like hogs at a trough. Tax dollars -> corporatized charter school networks -> political contributions. And the majority of voters will lap it up. Really impressive long con they’ve run. 

I am just glad public school teacher organizations and unions stay out of politics and do not make political contributions to the very politicians they sit at the bargaining table with

[Foosters 17748]

12 minutes ago, Frank Drebin said:

I am just glad public school teacher organizations and unions stay out of politics and do not make political contributions to the very politicians they sit at the bargaining table with

The issues facing Public schools in Texas are due to teachers unions?

[Celery Man 20891]

ahh the invisible hand at work improving our childrens' lives

[Frank Drebin 5618]

HISD has been poorly run for my entire life.  Is there any data on whether results have changed under Miles, be it positive or negative?

[Frank Drebin 5618]

55 minutes ago, Foosters said:

The issues facing Public schools in Texas are due to teachers unions?

The issues facing HISD, the subject of this thread, are due to charter school political donations?

[Dahobbs 17454]

13 minutes ago, Frank Drebin said:

The issues facing HISD, the subject of this thread, are due to charter school political donations?

If public tax dollars are going to out-of-state charter schools founded by the current appointed superintendent of HISD, yes. 

Edited May 14 by Dahobbs

[Dahobbs 17454]

11 minutes ago, Frank Drebin said:

HISD has been poorly run for my entire life.  Is there any data on whether results have changed under Miles, be it positive or negative?

Yes. Just go look at the revised performance results HISD reported where almost every single school did worse than previously with even A-rated schools dropping to a C. Apparently Miles rates his own progress as pretty bad. 

[Texas Jeff 1938]

18 minutes ago, Dahobbs said:

Yes. Just go look at the revised performance results HISD reported where almost every single school did worse than previously with even A-rated schools dropping to a C. Apparently Miles rates his own progress as pretty bad. 

A word of caution when looking at school ratings .... COVID caused school ratings to be all over the map and probably inflated scores.  I don't understand 100% of the system, but here's the basic idea:

The state ranks schools in a set of categories.  Pre-COVID, they averaged all categories to get a rating for the school.  School ratings were averaged to get a rating for the district.  So a school could get a F, D, C, B, A in five categories and that would average to a C.  During COVID, "bad" grades were changed to "not rated".  So those same ratings could have changed to NR, NR, C, B, A during COVID for an average of B.  Now, post-COVID, the NR's are being changed back to what they were before so a F, D, C, B, A school is back to a C average.

In extreme cases, schools got a F, F, F, F, A before the pandemic for an F rating, then during COVID got all NR's and one A ... which gave them an "A" rating, and are now back to F, F, F, F, A post-COVID for a brand new "F" rating.  Give it a few years to stabilize but I would not trust any school rating during the pandemic to reflect the real state of a school.

I have seen test scores which show that eco dis populations were really hit hard by COVID and are struggling to recover.

Edited May 14 by Texas Jeff

[Dahobbs 17454]

25 minutes ago, Texas Jeff said:

A word of caution when looking at school ratings .... COVID caused school ratings to be all over the map and probably inflated scores.  I don't understand 100% of the system, but here's the basic idea:

The state ranks schools in a set of categories.  Pre-COVID, they averaged all categories to get a rating for the school.  School ratings were averaged to get a rating for the district.  So a school could get a F, D, C, B, A in five categories and that would average to a C.  During COVID, "bad" grades were changed to "not rated".  So those same ratings could have changed to NR, NR, C, B, A during COVID for an average of B.  Now, post-COVID, the NR's are being changed back to what they were before so a F, D, C, B, A school is back to a C average.

In extreme cases, schools got a F, F, F, F, A before the pandemic for an F rating, then during COVID got all NR's and one A ... which gave them an "A" rating, and are now back to F, F, F, F, A post-COVID for a brand new "F" rating.  Give it a few years to stabilize but I would not trust any school rating during the pandemic to reflect the real state of a school.

I have seen test scores which show that eco dis populations were really hit hard by COVID and are struggling to recover.

Well, I don't think that is what is happening here. Rather, the rating system was changed specifically to make schools look worse to justify more state involvement and more demand for a voucher system. 

[Samson's Wig 3182]

The only thing that saved AISD from these money-grubbing cavemen was COVID.  Mike Morath and his fellow fundie pieces of excrement in higher office have a hard-on for AISD, I guess because they love any reason to screw with Austin.  One of our schools was one more F away from being taken over by TEA (which allows the state to take over the entire district) before the pandemic hit.  I'm sure we're back on track for it now, but I haven't been paying attention as closely as I used to.

I'm not sure any of it matters when state education is driven by standardized testing (which is just another way of funneling money to political cronies).  Too many public school teachers check out completely once STAAR testing is done, and who can blame them when it's essentially the only measuring stick used to determine their performance?  Combine that with the fucked up recapture system for funding, and it's amazing Texas isn't further down the list of state education rankings than it is.

Edited May 14 by Samson's Wig

[NeverMarryAStripper 21783]

We'll be on the bottom soon enough

[Pam Cummings 9590]

The corruption is baked in at this point.

[usmc0331horn 944]

Why would any teacher or principal sign on to work there at this point?

[royiv 9173]

5 hours ago, Frank Drebin said:

I am just glad public school teacher organizations and unions stay out of politics and do not make political contributions to the very politicians they sit at the bargaining table with

I may have missed a memo, but since when do teachers in Texas have the right to collective bargaining?

[atomheartbevo 89465]

5 minutes ago, royiv said:

I may have missed a memo, but since when do teachers in Texas have the right to collective bargaining?

They don't, but don't tell Frank Drebin that, he won't believe you because he saw a social media post about schools in another state doing something and thought it automatically applies here.

Edited May 14 by atomheartbevo

[MonkeyDoughnut 10150]

32 minutes ago, usmc0331horn said:

Why would any teacher or principal sign on to work there at this point?

Many because they love (loved) their job and the kids and they know Miles is good for at most 3 years... then he quits.  They just have to last 2 more years instead of uprooting their family from a place they love.

[NeverMarryAStripper 21783]

I think at this point the goal is pretty much the dismantling of HISD

[Kel Varnsen 8430]

They want to dismantle all public ed eventually. HISD is just where they started going hard to the bucket.

[Ted Lange 16055]

They don’t care about fixing schools, that’s a red herring.  They care about cronies getting rich on charter schools with a side order of new age segregation.  

[Updawg 2261]

Yep. Hisd is the target now, aisd will be next

[atomheartbevo 89465]

On 5/14/2024 at 7:14 PM, NeverMarryAStripper said:

I think at this point the goal is pretty much the dismantling of HISD

On 5/14/2024 at 9:31 PM, Updawg said:

Yep. Hisd is the target now, aisd will be next

It can’t be that bad can it?

Ohh….all completely by design.

I knew the Houston school takeover was not a good situation, I just didn’t realize the extent of the damage being done and how urgent something needs to change. The hearing today solidified my understanding of the situation. We listened to three hours of testimony from parents, teachers, community members and even a researcher, and I have provided some of the highlights below. Thank you to Rep. Christina Morales for pulling this hearing together, and for all of the Reps who participated.

-Teaching in HISD became unbearable due to the toxic/hostile work environment.

-Teachers were bullied. One teacher had his desk taken away.

-Nearly 4,600 staff left HISD since the takeover one year ago.

-Half the principals have been removed. Some had recently earned recognition for their work.

-A teacher was fired in front of a classroom of kids because one student had a phone out during class.

-A disproportionate number of black teachers have been let go (fired).

-30 out of 40 teachers in an A-rated school left.

-Teachers experiencing depression and anxiety.

-New teachers being hired no longer need to be certified.

-They don’t have the resources to follow IEPs.

-Administrators are unresponsive and lack a connection to the schools.

-Problems revealed in the data showing improvements in student performance.

-Mike Miles has lied and there has been retaliation against teachers who speak up.

-Schools are in chaos.

-Spanish is discouraged. The dual language program doesn’t exist, but is still getting funded. Where is that funding going?

-Libraries have been closed. They were turned into detention centers, now called “team centers.” What happened to the $7 million meant for purchasing books?

-Kids were reprimanded for going to the restroom. Some would drink less water so they could last all day without going to the restroom. One child got a urinary tract infection as a result.

-Extracurriculars are no longer funded: debate, UIL, drama, speech.

-Students have lost all motivation to learn.

-Quote from a parent: “What Miles is doing is wrong for our schools.”

I felt heartbroken for the teachers, students and families dealing with such a massive mess in HISD. We must fix this! #txlege

[royiv 9173]

It’s all going exactly according to plan. Once the state is done dismantling HISD, it will move on to the next large urban ISD on the list. 

Anecdotally, I have friend that I’ve known since childhood that has dedicated her career to teaching reading to kids. She lasted about six months under the Miles regime until she quit out of disgust for how bad things had gotten. She doesn’t need the salary so she has just left the profession completely. A person that had dedicated nearly 20 years to teaching kids how to read is lost forever. I’m sure there are plenty of other stories out there just like this one. Good job, everyone!

[Nice Guy Eddie 13417]

Quote

Kids were reprimanded for going to the restroom. Some would drink less water so they could last all day without going to the restroom. One child got a urinary tract infection as a result.

Really? HISD students were reprimanded when going to the restroom and one student got a urinary tract infection because it? I understand that Miles has pushed out teachers and added new policies but I'm skeptical about this claim.

While Miles looks to have pushed many long term educators away, this past year's test results was a big improvement from the previous year. Now perhaps HISD was at rock bottom before Miles and had nowhere to go but up, but HISD shouldn't have been so poorly managed.

https://blogs.houstonisd.org/news/2024/06/14/staar-results-show-hisd-is-closing-the-achievement-gap-for-all-grade-levels/

 

[Dahobbs 17454]

3 minutes ago, Nice Guy Eddie said:

Really? HISD students were reprimanded when going to the restroom and one student got a urinary tract infection because it? I understand that Miles has pushed out teachers and added new policies but I'm skeptical about this claim.

While Miles looks to have pushed many long term educators away, this past year's test results was a big improvement from the previous year. Now perhaps HISD was at rock bottom before Miles and had nowhere to go but up, but HISD shouldn't have been so poorly managed.

https://blogs.houstonisd.org/news/2024/06/14/staar-results-show-hisd-is-closing-the-achievement-gap-for-all-grade-levels/

 

I'll have to find the original information, but this is cherry picked data. 

[Nice Guy Eddie 13417]

22 minutes ago, Dahobbs said:

I'll have to find the original information, but this is cherry picked data. 

Please do. I don't have a dog in this fight except it looks like the entire city hates this guy.

[MinerProphet 71]

24 minutes ago, Dahobbs said:

I'll have to find the original information, but this is cherry picked data. 

Please do (find the original information that shows this as cherry picked data).

2 minutes ago, Nice Guy Eddie said:

Please do. I don't have a dog in this fight except it looks like the entire city hates this guy.

jinx. you owe me a coke.

[tokamak 6353]

I'm pretty surprised that Miles and co.'s arms haven't fallen off due to all the back patting they've done regarding those STAAR results. Seriously, the amount and intensity of the propaganda they fill my email inbox with is unsettling and unprofessional.

The teaching model they've implemented is basically wiping away anything that's not direct classroom instruction (e.g., libraries, reading nooks, etc), a lot of high-intensity (almost always timed) instruction with constant check-ins from the teacher and administrators, and making it clear to the teachers that they'll be compensated based on test scores. It's designed to improve test scores, and that's what it did. Are kids actually learning more? More prepared for college? For the workforce? Honestly I don't know.

The really big question, however, is is the model sustainable? My kids are at a non-NES elementary and anecdotally, morale is pretty low among teachers and staff. The firing of so many (often popular) principals has kinda blown everyone's minds. It really is Miles's way or the highway. There's also the fact that none of Miles's stuff is paid for, and HISD is digging itself a huge financial hole with no apparent plan to fill it. They are going to have to cut to the bone over the next couple years to make the math work out. At the end of this past school year they cut every single janitor in the district and offered to rehire them as contractors. Twenty years in the teacher retirement system? Fuck you, hit the bricks.

[Nivek 16866]

It is easy to boost numbers for Starr when you run off families by killing the SPED programs. I believe this was part of the backstory to Pump Up the Volume! with Christian Slater.

[Nivek 16866]

Now perhaps HISD was at rock bottom before Miles and had nowhere to go but up, but HISD shouldn't have been so poorly managed.

Look, HISD had problems, but they were not at whatever Rock Bottom is.

My kids attending Oak Forest Elm could have been better supported, but staff there were working within limits that were also coming from the state which limited support.

Just because there were problems, bad actors, poor management, doesn’t mean the solution is to be reactive or to change everything, ignoring what was working and where, so one can install yet another system which has failed Miles in Colorado, Dallas, his charter schools, etc.

Let me put it in a different context. If I wanted to make a new rifle to replace the M4 what would I do? Study the M4, find out what troops like and dislike, study the pros and cons with from battlefield results and economics and engineering? Or just toss everything aside and start from zero, possibly coming up with something better, but most likely coming up with something worse? After all, I only failed 3x before.

[royiv 9173]

14 hours ago, tokamak said:

I'm pretty surprised that Miles and co.'s arms haven't fallen off due to all the back patting they've done regarding those STAAR results. Seriously, the amount and intensity of the propaganda they fill my email inbox with is unsettling and unprofessional.

The teaching model they've implemented is basically wiping away anything that's not direct classroom instruction (e.g., libraries, reading nooks, etc), a lot of high-intensity (almost always timed) instruction with constant check-ins from the teacher and administrators, and making it clear to the teachers that they'll be compensated based on test scores. It's designed to improve test scores, and that's what it did. Are kids actually learning more? More prepared for college? For the workforce? Honestly I don't know.

The really big question, however, is is the model sustainable? My kids are at a non-NES elementary and anecdotally, morale is pretty low among teachers and staff. The firing of so many (often popular) principals has kinda blown everyone's minds. It really is Miles's way or the highway. There's also the fact that none of Miles's stuff is paid for, and HISD is digging itself a huge financial hole with no apparent plan to fill it. They are going to have to cut to the bone over the next couple years to make the math work out. At the end of this past school year they cut every single janitor in the district and offered to rehire them as contractors. Twenty years in the teacher retirement system? Fuck you, hit the bricks.

Digging themselves a financial hole that’s only going to get worse when the bond gets voted down. Everyone I know is treating the bond proposition as a mandate on Miles. I predict it’s going to fail miserably.

[Nivek 16866]

On 8/1/2024 at 12:46 PM, royiv said:

Digging themselves a financial hole that’s only going to get worse when the bond gets voted down. Everyone I know is treating the bond proposition as a mandate on Miles. I predict it’s going to fail miserably.

Why shouldn't they? The state is not funding schools properly nor is it spending the money they have allocated to education.  Why should residents vote to hand money over to someone who is cutting supports, services, has ZERO accountability and no trust from the community?  Why should residents accept that in 8 days, we are supposed to start school, yet the websites of most HISD schools are not updated, people we have been reaching out to about the upcoming year to PREP a SPED kid are not responding at the school level or district level and we have no idea if they are still even employed.    No schedules or information of any kind from FBMS.   Heck the teaches from OFE (next fucking door to FBMS) have sent out welcome messages, one teacher even sent it from Columbia where he was on vacation more than a week ago.  We also saw this fuckface take Texans money and hand it off to pay for his charter school admin in Colorado which of course he has a financial interest in.  No trust, no bond. 

[Nivek 16866]

Update:   I have just been informed that FBMS will now bundling their AP/Vanguard courses to their Honors program and there will be even more students in every class for the teachers.  Yes, so the TEA's appointed guy, is putting more than the TEA guidelines of 22/kid per class and in fact, they are bloating the classrooms even more while cutting services.   

 

[Updawg 2261]

Shit is infuriating. Glad my kid will be out of aisd before the state really starts dismantling it. I feel for everyone with young kids.

[tokamak 6353]

1 hour ago, Nivek said:

Update:   I have just been informed that FBMS will now bundling their AP/Vanguard courses to their Honors program and there will be even more students in every class for the teachers.  Yes, so the TEA's appointed guy, is putting more than the TEA guidelines of 22/kid per class and in fact, they are bloating the classrooms even more while cutting services.   

 

I’m pretty sure they’re just taking resources from non-NES schools to give to NES schools. 

[royiv 9173]

1 hour ago, Nivek said:

Update:   I have just been informed that FBMS will now bundling their AP/Vanguard courses to their Honors program and there will be even more students in every class for the teachers.  Yes, so the TEA's appointed guy, is putting more than the TEA guidelines of 22/kid per class and in fact, they are bloating the classrooms even more while cutting services.   

 

Fuck Mike Miles

[MonkeyDoughnut 10150]

2 hours ago, Nivek said:

Update:   I have just been informed that FBMS will now bundling their AP/Vanguard courses to their Honors program and there will be even more students in every class for the teachers.  Yes, so the TEA's appointed guy, is putting more than the TEA guidelines of 22/kid per class and in fact, they are bloating the classrooms even more while cutting services.   

 

ahh.. the "District of Innovation" sham designation where districts are allowed/forced to go over the 22 per class limit in order to stay solvent and get around what's best for the students.

[High Plains Drifter 10984]

On 8/1/2024 at 12:46 PM, royiv said:

Digging themselves a financial hole that’s only going to get worse when the bond gets voted down. Everyone I know is treating the bond proposition as a mandate on Miles. I predict it’s going to fail miserably.

 

Bond propositions are always a mandate on the school board or superintendent. 

 

[High Plains Drifter 10984]

On 7/31/2024 at 1:35 PM, atomheartbevo said:

-New teachers being hired no longer need to be certified.

 

 

This has been the case in a lot of districts for many years. 

 

 

[Captainant 27481]

On 8/5/2024 at 6:23 PM, Updawg said:

Shit is infuriating. Glad my kid will be out of aisd before the state really starts dismantling it. I feel for everyone with young kids.

My wife and I are planning to GTFO Houston and possibly Texas once our kids hit school age. It breaks my heart that the state has gutted public education to the extent they have. I'm friends with several teachers that have already hit their 10 years of service and they have no interest in staying. They get less support from admin, more attacks from culture war movements, and they're getting paid dogshit on top of it all.

I really feel for our Texas teachers. They have been in the cross hairs of the culture war to the detriment of our children's future

[Nivek 16866]

So HISD wasn't able to use the onsite defibrillator after a child had a seizure and the child passed.   The defib. was not maintained.   While this might be a stretch, remembed Miles fired the custodial staff this summer. 

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Our start to 7th grade at FBMS is going.   At lunch, he was shining a laser pointer at the back of one of the staff members.  They eventually figured it out and demanded the pointer.  He declined.  They demanded his name.  He declined.  He interpreted something said as a threat of suspension.  Well.  My son, walked home from school without anyone noticing in the middle of the day.  His old teacher from OFE was the one who saw him walking out of campus and talking with a few students (OFE) as we made his way home, and that teacher called FBMS.   Apparently in the middle of class he asked to use the restroom, and left with his backpack.   

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Accidental improvement:  They apparently didn't get all of their chromebooks back or have too many that were damaged, so they have opted to buddy up kids and use them in class only.  This should hopefully cut down on the Youtube and Fortnite playing in class.   

Intentional Improvement:  They have made their stairways directional now, so this is cutting down on stress.

 

[Dahobbs 17454]

HISD Board of Trustees also approved the sale of $80 million in property even though it doesn't know which buildings or properties will be sold or which schools may be affected.  

[Captainant 27481]

16 minutes ago, Nivek said:

So HISD wasn't able to use the onsite defibrillator after a child had a seizure and the child passed.   The defib. was not maintained.   While this might be a stretch, remembed Miles fired the custodial staff this summer. 

 

10 minutes ago, Dahobbs said:

HISD Board of Trustees also approved the sale of $80 million in property even though it doesn't know which buildings or properties will be sold or which schools may be affected.  

[laughs in businessbrain cost cutting]