How HISD Superintendent Mike Miles Destroyed Education

Writing this editorial feels like déjà vu. In 2011, after six years of teaching experience in the Houston Independent School District, I wrote an opinion piece for this newspaper explaining why I was leaving to work at a private school. Under the leadership of then-Superintendent Terry Grier, I felt micromanaged and disrespected, and I begged my fellow Houstonians to listen to teachers.

In 2016, shortly after Grier left, and motivated by a desire to serve the children of the public system in which I live, I returned to HISD. For the past eight years, I have worked – mostly happily – as an English teacher at Bellaire High School. I regularly arrived at school well before the first bell to correct homework and write the lessons I loved teaching. I spent my summers writing letters of recommendation for my students – sometimes more than 70. My passing rate on the AP Language exam was 30 percentage points higher than the world average. I’m also a published novelist and brought my skills to the creative writing class I taught last year.

But unfortunately, I’m leaving HISD again, this time for a neighboring district. Again, it’s because I feel micromanaged and disrespected. And once again, the voices of teachers have been ignored.

As early as last summer, just weeks into Superintendent Mike Miles’ tenure — a tenure sparked by a politically motivated state takeover of HISD and emboldened by a complicit board of trustees comprised of our fellow Houstonians — teachers began expressing concerns about Miles’ plans for the district in community meetings and online. Those who remembered controversial administrations such as Grier’s rightly felt that Miles’ plans for the district might make the past look like summer camp.

We were concerned because during Miles’ time in Dallas, teacher turnover skyrocketed. We were frustrated that his academic director had no classroom experience. We explained that Miles’ teacher observation protocols and prescribed (and sometimes error-riddled) lessons would limit our ability to better serve our students. We expressed our frustration when we were criticized for taking necessary sick days. We were angry when a District Innovation committee was created without including a single teacher.

On Facebook community groups discussing Miles’ plans, other teachers and I voiced our concerns. While many black and brown parents whose children would be immediately affected by Miles’ program joined the fight early, too many well-resourced parents who thought their schools would never be affected told us we should give it a chance to changes. Some have suggested that we are comfortable with low standards for children. The tone was often paternalistic at best, insulting at worst.

In January, this newspaper’s editorial board questioned the type of teachers the district could potentially lose under Miles, wondering if only “low-ambition office keepers” would leave. As I read the article, I wondered: If there was a potential exodus of doctors from the Texas Medical Center, would our first impulse be to assume that the doctors who are leaving are incompetent? Or would we just be concerned about what was happening at the Texas Medical Center?

Teachers are professionals, but over my nearly two decades in the classroom, I have felt less and less so. The nationwide teacher shortage suggests I’m not alone. Desperate to score on the high-stakes state tests that are the only marker of success, administrators with little or no teaching experience routinely come up with shiny new methods that often strip successful teachers of their autonomy. These methods promise a silver bullet to complex and difficult problems, and they take what is at best an art form and reduce it to something soulless and factory-like. The worst part is that these methods rarely do more than produce a small, temporary increase in scores, not real, lasting growth.

This administration has been particularly egregious, approaching HISD as if it is a fast food chain that can be fixed with a better quality control system. The problem is that the best teachers are French chefs and they have no interest in working in a fast food restaurant, regardless of the salary. Following the methods prescribed by Miles, I was required to execute – along with my students – a list of regimented strategies approved by Miles while an observer checked off boxes. I will never forget the young man in one of my classes who, as the observer came out, said out loud: “Finally! I can breathe!” I understood how he felt.

What matters is not the method but the person in the class. Everyone remembers their best teachers, as well as those who were bad at their jobs. In teaching, the crucial factor is the teacher – not a gadget, a slideshow, a checklist or an office supply.

When you deprofessionalize a profession, you risk losing the best in yourself. While many dedicated teachers choose to stay and fight, it seems to me that the majority of us who leave are among the strongest and most beloved. Many are veterans who continue to improve their practice, supporting research that teacher effectiveness increases with experience. But since veterans are often the most outspoken teachers, the cynical part of me wonders if we intended all along to exclude each other.

The growing number of critical speakers at the board’s monthly meetings suggests that Houstonians are unhappy with Miles. I am grateful to every person who chooses to get involved in this fight, regardless of when they choose. But I can’t help but think about the time wasted in mobilizing because few people listened to those of us on the front lines.

As concerns about the future of HISD continue to grow, I can only say this: The teachers warned you. I hope that as this fight continues, teachers’ voices will finally be heard and believed.

Jennifer Mathieu Blessington is a writer and teacher. His next novel, “The Faculty Lounge,” appears in July.