[en español aqui]

Miles, Gov Abbott, and the BOM are trying to destroy public education in Houston. Superintendent F. Mike Miles, appointed by Governor Abbott,  is going to neighborhoods around Houston this week and all of July. He is a master at selling snake oil,, trying to convince the public to believe in his tried and failed plan.

Can you come this evening to MC Williams, 6100 Knox, from 6-7:30 pm? Can you ask a probing question? RSVP at houstonCVPE.org/events for more information and for sample questions. If you cannot come tonight, come to others. Speak out!

Miles' plan to reconstitute NES schools looks like this:

• All teachers, principals, and staff must leave or reapply.
• Many rookie teachers and non-teachers (dyad) working with our kids
• Less recess, art, music, and PE classes
• Lots of STAAR test prep, no librarian, no magnet, no dual-language*
• Teachers read from a boring script. Clerks grade children’s work
• "Problem" kids sent to a Zoom room

Miles dismisses concerns in various ways when he talks to the media or the public. When asked what would happen to dual language programs at NES schools, he said there would still be dual language but that reading instruction would be entirely in English. How is that dual language? 

The Houston Chronicle reports that “the change in leadership has ignited concerns among some school communities who fear the disruption will harm their children. 

“At Pugh Elementary, an overwhelmingly Hispanic school in the East End with an A rating last year from the state, principal Claudia Montoya-Barba will be replaced by a new campus leader. 

Melissa Yarborough, whose children attend Pugh, one of the NES schools, said families were happy with Montoya-Barba (their principal), a bilingual educator who could communicate and connect with many Spanish-speaking families in the community. 

"She knew our kids, she knew our families, and she knew our school," she said. "The school is a family. I can't tell you how much my kids loved their teachers...and then these people are gone." 

Yarborough said she worries that the new principal may dismiss concerns from parents while following the new administration's strict reform agenda. While the district has shared no information yet about incoming principal Keith Garcia, the parent said she hopes he speaks Spanish and has many years of experience in elementary teaching and administration.  

"We hope that he wants to work for our families and not against them," Yarborough said. "And we hope he sees our students as humans with hearts and souls and minds and not just as test scores." Parents at Pugh have created a website with information in English and Spanish for families at NES schools facing big changes. 

See you tonight. RSVP at houstoncvpe.org/events. Would you ask three friends to sign the petition opposing the illegitimate occupation of HISD at houstoncvpe.org?

Community Voices for Public Education
http://www.houstoncvpe.org/