Texas Education Agency picks Mike Miles for Houston ISD superintendent as state takeover begins

Sign up for The Brief, The Texas Tribune’s daily newsletter that keeps readers up to speed on the most essential Texas news.

The Texas Education Agency announced Thursday that it will place former Dallas schools superintendent Mike Miles as superintendent of the Houston Independent School District, commencing the state’s takeover of Texas’ largest school district.

Miles’ first day on the job overseeing the district of nearly 190,000 students is Thursday under a temporary 21-day contract until a board of managers, also newly-appointed by Education Commissioner Mike Morath, formally approves him. Morath will decide how long the organization’s state-appointed board – which replaced a democratically elected school board — and superintendent will be in place. Previous TEA takeovers have lasted two to six years.

The state’s takeover of Houston ISD was the response to years of poor academic outcomes at a single campus in the district, Phillis Wheatley High School, allegations of misconduct against school board members and the ongoing presence of a conservator who’s been overseeing the district for years. Morath has said state law requires his agency to respond by either closing that campus or appointing a new board to oversee the district.

To the protest of many Houston elected officials, local education advocates and parents, Miles and the new board will inherit a district that has for years remained an overall well-performing school system — compared to others in Texas — and was experiencing a bit of momentum with a new superintendent after years of scandal and public dysfunction. Still, certain campuses struggled for years and in the end one spurred the takeover with Morath saying the district had long-neglected some of its students and that he had no choice.

Miles arrives from leadership posts in Colorado, where he founded a public network of charters and served as superintendent of the Harrison School District in Colorado Springs. He also led the Dallas Independent School District, the state’s second-largest, during a time when Morath also served on that district’s school board.

“We were looking for people from a wide array of backgrounds, experiences, and perspectives who believe all children can learn and achieve at high levels when properly supported and who can work together,” Morath said in a news release. “I believe the governing team I am naming today will work as a unified team, dedicated to improving student outcomes and supporting educators.”

Morath was referring to a state law passed in 2015 mandating a state takeover if a school district or one of its campuses receives failing grades in the TEA’s accountability rating system for five consecutive years. Phillis Wheatley reached that threshold in 2019.

Morath and the agency moved to force out the district’s school board that same year. The district pushed back and sued, but the Texas Supreme Court ruled in January that the agency could move forward with its plan to take over the district.

“Even with a delay of three full years caused by legal proceedings, systemic problems in Houston ISD continue to impact students most in need of our collective support,” Morath wrote in a letter to district leaders in March.

The TEA, which grades schools and districts each year based on their academic achievement, gave Phillis Wheatley a grade of F in 2019. Last year, Phillis Wheatley got a C, and Houston ISD as a whole received a B. In the last 19 months, Houston ISD has made strides in reducing the number of its campuses with a D or F rating from about 50 to 10. Ninety-four percent of district schools now earn a grade of A, B or C.

Go behind the headlines with newly announced speakers at the 2023 Texas Tribune Festival, in downtown Austin from Sept. 21-23. Join them to get their take on what’s next for Texas and the nation.