[Photo: Colleen DeGuzman]
Houston Independent School District (HISD) students are not happy with the HISD takeover. The state of Texas took over HISD in 2023 and appointed superintendent Mike Miles who had previously had a leadership role in the Dallas Independent School District. HISD was taken over because of poor academic results. Mike Miles assumed his role and quickly made changes, most that many faculty, staff, and students did not agree with. Miles’ mission to improve HISD has been ongoing for almost two years, now students planned to protest the state takeover with a planned “sick out.”
Wednesday, February 5th, 2025, thousands of students plan to stay at home, lowering the attendance for the district. Although the students are the ones acting, the district believes adults have encouraged them to push their “political agenda.” According to KHOU 11 The co-founder of Community Voices for Public Education Ruth Kravets said, “Tomorrow, parents all across HISD are keeping their children home to protest the harmful takeover.” In the state of a Texas schools receive money based on attendance, the less students the school has the less money it will receive. In a statement released by the district, they said encouraging students to miss school only hurts the student. “It is entirely irresponsible for CVPE to cynically exploit people’s legitimate concerns about federal immigration policy to push their own political agenda about the state intervention. Encouraging students to skip school only hurts the students” the statement by Alexandra Elizondo HISD’s Chief of Public Affairs and Communications said.
The district argues that data has significantly increased since HISD was taken over by the state, teachers have also not been as absent. “Every data point STARR, NAEP, School Accountability Ratings, College-Credit Course Access- shows that HISD’s students and schools, especially those neglected by previous administrations, are making significant progress” Elizondo said. HISD is also suggesting that people adapt to the new way of HISD, suggesting that the old way of HISD was not beneficial to all students. “The old HISD may have worked wonderfully for a few students, but it didn’t work for most students. The systemic transformation underway at HISD is the best shot to ensure that all of Houston’s students have a fair shot at the education and life they deserve. Unfortunately, a small group of adults continue to put their interest ahead of the students.” Elizondo said.
There continues to be mixed feelings about the takeover. While HISD is showing growth on paper, the rapid and forceful approach to change quickly has left parents, students, faculty, and staff with mixed feelings. The issue is not necessarily what is happening but how it is being implemented, leaving many struggling to keep up.
