Houston Might Be The Biggest Story In Education No One Is Talking About

The Houston Independent Public School district had 121 schools rated D or F by the state in 2023. Now, just 17 schools in the district have a D grade, and for the first time ever, zero are rated F.

A bigger comeback story might be hard to find in public education. That is largely thanks to Superintendent Mike Miles, who spoke to the Daily Caller News Foundation about what it took to turn the failing district around.

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Texas Education Commissioner Mike Morath appointed Miles to reform the district in 2023, when the state sidelined the elected school board in a contentious, emergency takeover.

“There weren’t many people who were happy about the intervention,” Miles said. “There were some that understood that the district was in such a bad place that something had to be done, that the status quo was not going to be upset or changed unless it was drastic or bold transformation.”

Miles, who published a book in July about how to transform school systems, spoke to the DCNF about how he dealt with an epidemic of chronically absent teachers, a financial mismanagement crisis within the district, and the massive pushback despite showing strong results following his reforms.

Student test scores are improving, too. But that hasn’t stopped teachers unions from fighting the transformation.

“There are some groups that won’t even celebrate that this success has happened for kids, or that they’re reading better or doing math better,” Miles said.

“That’s disturbing to me because regardless of whether you like the intervention or not, when students can read at grade level in vastly greater numbers than before.”