Column: Second Chances at HISD

The news arrived in an impersonal boilerplate email. One teacher, who didn’t check his inbox all the time, received it a week late in March and only thanks to a colleague asking him if he’d gotten his letter from the HISD Human Resources Office yet.

But this doesn’t seem to be the case of someone skating by. After more than 20 years of teaching in HISD, serving under five superintendents in the years before this one, this teacher who’d previously been rated mostly at a 4 or 5 on a 5-point scale and never been lower than a 3 under a number of different principals at different schools in the district — a one-time Teacher of the Year – was told he wasn’t hitting his marks.

He would have to re-confirm that he wanted to work at an NES school. He must be in good standing with the district . The question, of course, is whether this is a bad teacher or just someone who hasn’t adapted to the new way of doing things in HISD, not just at the NES schools with their emphasis on timed testing and a rigidly prescribed curriculum, but on all campuses.

Superintendent Miles has a plan to radically improve the academic outcomes for HISD students – a worthy goal. His chosen method is to upend the status quo and centralize instruction. To do that, critics say he has run roughshod over the people who have, up till now, made the district work. In this topsy-turvy world students feel sorry for their teachers and principals. This is not the natural order of things.

The board went into executive session with the superintendent and four hours later he emerged to issue a statement saying that the principal screenings “will not be used in the evaluation of principals or other campus administrators in any adverse employment decisions for 2023-2024.”

United States Latest News, United States Headlines

Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.

California is clearing criminal records — including violent crimes — to offer second chancesThe state has one of the nation’s broadest laws to clear criminal records, and it’s about to expand even more. Supporters say expungements give a fresh start to people who have done the…
Source: ladailynews - 🏆 332. / 59 Read more »

California is clearing criminal records — including violent crimes — to offer second chancesCalifornia has one of the nation’s broadest laws to clear criminal records, and it’s about to expand even more.
Source: CalMatters - 🏆 261. / 63 Read more »

California is clearing criminal records — including violent crimes — to offer second chancesCalifornia has one of the nation’s broadest laws to clear criminal records, and it’s about to expand even more. Supporters say expungements give a fresh start to people who have done their time.…
Source: mercnews - 🏆 88. / 68 Read more »

Superintendent Miles To HISD Principals: So Tell Me What You Want, What You Really Really WantThursday, HISD Superintendent Mike Miles packed the board room at the Hattie Mae White administration building but not with crowds yelling for him to leave town. Just an attentive group of principals teetering on the brink of saying they too want to join a new version of his New Education System...
Source: HoustonPress - 🏆 314. / 61 Read more »

'School feels like jail': State of the District draws protestors as HISD addresses school budgets'School feels like a prison,' one parent said. Protestors in and outside the State of the District meeting in downtown Houston expressed concerns about not having elected school trustees, dwindling libraries, and losing teachers.
Source: abc13houston - 🏆 255. / 63 Read more »

HISD plans to fund 130 NES schools this year, but district struggling financiallyProtestors were fired up outside HISD's 'State of the District' luncheon, with some even interrupting. This all comes as Superintendent Mike Miles is trying to get support for his new budget proposal.
Source: abc13houston - 🏆 255. / 63 Read more »