Library cuts and teachers quitting: Texas's takeover of Houston schools [View all]

Source: The Guardian

Library cuts and teachers quitting: Texas’s takeover of Houston schools

Staff call for the state-appointed superintendent to be removed amid an implementation of a rigid curriculum as over 600 teachers resign

Michael Sainato
@msainat1
Tue 5 Mar 2024 11.00 GMT
Last modified on Tue 5 Mar 2024 11.03 GMT

Teachers and other staff in the Houston Independent school district (HISD), which serves the fourth most populous city in the US, are calling for the state-appointed superintendent of the district to be removed amid a surge in resignations of employees, cuts to libraries and implementation of rigid school reform curriculum.

The Republican governor, Greg Abbott, announced last year that the state of Texas would take control over the Houston Independent school district in June 2023 and replace democratically-elected school board members with state-appointed ones. The move was criticized as part of Abbott’s agenda of expanding charter schools in Texas as one of his legislative priorities has been pushing a bill to expand vouchers for charter schools that failed to garner enough support to pass in 2023.

Floyd Mike Miles, the CEO of charter school corporation Third Futures Schools, was appointed superintendent of the Houston Independent school district last June by the Texas education agency. Miles previously served as superintendent of the Dallas schools district before resigning in 2015.

An online petition calling for Miles’ removal has received more than 13,000 signatures. The petition criticized Miles’ spending of $470,000 of district funds on a school play produced by a family member, and criticized his role in keeping schools open during heating issues several schools faced this winter.

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Read more: https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2024/mar/05/texas-houston-independent-school-district-takeover