F. Mike Miles, the former CEO of a charter school company, wants to change public schools

In the summer of 2023, Houston Independent School District (HISD) was taken over by the Texas Education Agency (TEA). Our elected School Board was replaced by a state-appointed Board of Managers. The Board of Managers then fired Millard House II as superintendent and appointed Mike Miles. Mike Miles announced that part of his way of reforming HISD would be to introduce his New Education System (NES); initially, 28 campuses were forced to become part of the NES and an additional 57 campuses elected to be NES Aligned (NES-A). Many campuses felt they had to join as NES-A schools for political reasons or to get access to district curriculum which was initially being withheld from non-NES campuses.

Superintendent Miles announced the 2022-2023 accountability ratings for schools in HISD. These ratings use the scores from the 2023 STAAR which all students were required to take on the computer for the first time. Previously, Love had always given the STAAR on paper since 3rd-5th graders rarely know how to type. Many schools saw a significant drop in their ratings, Love included. We went from an A-rated to a D-rated campus. These ratings are being presented as if they are coming from TEA, but they are NOT. In fact, TEA is being sued by over 100 districts for their new rating system because the system is punitive and skewed. By court order, TEA is not allowed to release these ratings; instead, TEA released their rating system to school districts to calculate their ratings on their own. Unlike Mike Miles, many superintendents decided not to use the TEA calculation and formula at all for the 2022-2023 school year. It is the ratings using this new and heavily litigated formula which are determining which schools join NES for the 2024-2025 school year.

As it stands, Miles has announced that all NES Aligned (NES-A) campuses, plus 26 campuses with low D or F ratings will be required to join NES for the 2024-2025 school year. Additionally, up to 14 of the 24 campuses with high Ds (defined as a rating score between 65 and 69) will “have the option to be considered for the NES.” Love Elementary is one of these high D-rated schools with a score of 66. HISD “currently projects that it will be able to accept up to 14 high-D campuses for the NES in the coming school year. HISD will select those campuses by February 9.” We have a voice, but we must use it! VOTE NO TO THE NES