So, while the board is lobbying for our city to buck the system regarding recapture, I’m asking you do the same thing when it comes to the intensive testing culture we have in this state.
First, step up locally and remove promotion standards tied to STAAR for grades other than 5th and 8th grade.
Then, continue the work of removing the ties of STAAR and teacher evaluations.
Next, let’s think about how we can support failing students rather than punish them, and how Houston ISD can work together with other districts across the state to demand the TEA and education policy in Texas do the same?
If we let politicians oversimplify the problem to it being only about Houston keeping its money, we do Texas and its children a great disservice. If we advocate for keeping our taxes but ask someone else to come up with a solution for adequately funding the charter school students in our midst or the rural and suburban students far away, we dare the system to break down even further.
We must be really careful. Not only is the immediate cost of recapture to Houston on the line—the difference between $162 million and $192 million dollars this year, but so, too, is the battle to adequately fund public education in Texas.
We were interested to know what Houston ISD received in return for letting Dr. Grier out of his contract early -- after all, the district had to pay Ken Heuwitt extra to take over the job on an interim basis. Surely the trustees negotiated some valuable consideration for paying out his bonuses early and taking on the expense of interim leadership.
Turns out, in our quest to get answers, we are left with more questions. What is taking 16 hours of labor to find? What type of control does HISD have over travel expenses? What is someone trying to hide by making it expensive to find? And what exactly was Houston ISD staff doing at the Aria? In a world where the trustees want to roll the political dice with $30 million in classroom funds, that's all we really want to know.
But the public deserves more transparency. I have written before about the potential conflict of interest between the lawyers advising trustees on superintendent contracts and how those same lawyers can benefit from millions of dollars in business controlled by that same superintendent. The students, the parents, the teachers, the career educators, the taxpayers and all the stakeholders in our public education system deserve more transparency on what might be the most important decision this board makes for years to come.
