The Texas Education Agency is ushering in a new era of educational governance with its announcement of former Dallas Independent School District superintendent Mike Miles as the new Houston ISD superintendent.
TEA also named the new board of managers. They are as follows:
Audrey Momanaee: Houston ISD parent and experienced litigation attorney.
Ric Campo: Assisted families and helped reduce homelessness in Houston via his service on several public and private school boards over the last 40 years.
Angel Lemond Flowers: An experienced educator, Flowers served as high school English teacher and administrative leadership for over 20 years in Houston-area schools.
Michelle Cruz Arnold, Ph.D: Mother of Houston ISD student, Arnold spent 20 years as an education policy advocate. She currently leads government relations and advocacy work for a national non-profit college access program.
Cassandra Auzenne Bandy: Houston ISD graduate and chemical Engineer at a global consulting firm, Bandy is an active PTO volunteer at her children’s school.
Janette Garza Lindner: Has two children who attend Houston ISD. Management consultant within energy industry.
Rolando Martinez: Houston ISD graduate and parent of three Houston ISD students, Martinez serves as Houston ISD District Advisory Committee.
Paula Mendoza: Mother of a Houston ISD graduate, Mendoza serves on several non-profit and governmental boards including University of Houston Board of Regents, Texas Ethics Commission, and Texas State Board of Public Accountancy.
Adam P. Rivon: Rivon is a parent to Houston ISD student and former U.S Army solider.
The agency says all Board of Managers will temporarily replace the current elected board of trustees. June 8 will be the first public school board meeting under the appointed board members and new superintendent.
With this takeover, they will assume the responsibility of steering HISD toward academic excellence, financial stability and improved student outcomes.
Since the official announcement of the takeover was made in March, the community eagerly awaited this pivotal transition and what it means for the future of the district.
Amidst this unease, community members are closely scrutinizing the actions and decisions made my TEA and will continue to do so as plans for more protests are in the works.
There is still unfinished business between what are the key priorities of the board members and the actions they must undertake to effectively oversee and uplift the largest school district in Texas and what it will take to return governance to the hands of the people.
Ruth Kravetz, co-founder of Community of Voices for Public Education, is not confident about how they will tackle the issues of the school district.
Kravetz says it is unclear about what the appointed members will achieve during the first public meeting and there is no sense of direction about how they will tackle issues once they hit the ground running.
The agency states that the Board of Managers will collaborate with the new superintended to ensure that Houston ISD teachers and staff are equipped with the tools and resources needed at their disposal to facilitate success in school and beyond, as well as provide “strategic leadership and oversight of the new superintendent.”
“Is TEA ready for primetime? Good or bad, we’re getting a new board that’s never operated in these waters before and a whole bunch of leaders have left,” Kravetz said. “Even if they have the best of intentions, they don’t know what it takes to lead a district of this magnitude. These are novices.”
Dr. Duncan Klussman is a clinical assistant professor at the University of Houston who has experience in K-12 leadership as the former superintendent of schools in Spring Branch ISD. He says there are three key components to effective education governance: a strong leader, a strong unified board of managers to set clear expectations, and a constant flow of community feedback and input.
“Superintendent House was a strong leader and the suggestion wouldn’t apply to his efforts, but we should also take into account that of the learning curve the board of managers will experience,” said Klussman.
Former Superintendent Millard House II, who is now out of a job, released a statement to the HISD community, saying in part, “We accomplished many of the goals we set together in the last two years. And while I know our time was cut short, I have no doubt that there will be more successes to come.”
Klussman said accountability will play a major factor as appointed managers settle into their roles.
“Do the people have the authority to dismiss the leader if they’re not meeting expectations,” he queried. “The people should be comfortable with holding both the appointed managers and the state accountable now that this is no longer a traditional system under an elected board.”
The TEA first moved to take over the district’s school board in 2019 following allegations of misconduct by board members and the repeated low academic performance of Wheatley High School. But since 2019, the school has met state standards and HISD received a B on TEA’s A-F rating system.
“The schools are actually not failing by the state’s own standards, and research shows that everything consistent with takeovers is happening now,” said Dr. Domingo Morel, associate professor of Political Science and Public Service at New York University. “There is a majority community of color, racial tensions between the partisan dynamics at the state level. Mostly people of color identify as Democrat, so essentially it turns out to be power and politics rather than this idea of improving schools.”
Morel says the community needs to reframe its thinking and use their collective power to mobilize.
“Communities need to think in terms of resistance. That means constant presence at school board meetings. Turn it into a public stage and force the state to answer those critical questions,” he said. “Across the city of Houston there needs to be a collaboration with teachers, parents and local leaders to bring attention at the city council, mayoral level and state representatives. The fight doesn’t end here.”
This story is still developing.
