F Mike Miles plans to turn schools in Black and Latinx communities into sterile, silent places. And that is just wrong.
Over the last few weeks, Miles has been touting the “hospital method,” and after a tour of NES Shadydale Elementary School, the Houston Chronicle Editorial Board noted this morning that the rooms definitely feel like a hospital - “sterile, cold, cookie-cutter.”
“Gathered inside what used to be the library at Shadydale Elementary, Houston ISD's state-appointed Superintendent Mike Miles gives the room full of principals their marching orders.”
“Miles insisted: no cozy reading nooks, no storage space in desks for personal items, no students catching up in the hallways, no frivolous get-to-know-you sessions on the first day. Every colorless corner, every vacant angle seemed so regimented that it made sense when one principal on the tour cautiously asked if teachers in this brave new world could still have a desk. The classroom we were in didn't have one.”
The Editorial Board further notes that “elementary and middle school students will be expected to walk silently, intently, in single-file lines, which, ideally, are less compatible to mischief.”
Reported throughout the week, Superintendent Miles is converting libraries into discipline areas and eliminating librarians. Miles will be converting libraries into rooms where misbehaving children go to watch lessons virtually. This is a drastic change from the last superintendent who invested millions of dollars in new library books after listening to advocacy efforts and community input.
…”Classrooms will also have webcams, through which students sent out to the Zoom (discipline removal) room can tune back in. Lesson plans will be selected by the central office and teachers are expected to stick to the schedule and pace.”
Miles’ vision will worsen inequities for under-resourced communities like those in the Wheatley, North Forest and Kashmere feeder patterns. Has Miles thought about the long-term effect of placing children in daily Zoom discipline referral room isolation? Calling them “team centers” makes them neither collaborative nor friendly.
The NES schools will be a drastic adjustment for all. For teachers specifically, that means cookie cutter rooms and scripted lessons down to the minute.
“Individual classrooms will use smartboards, a timer in the top-right hand corner constantly keeping track of each activity. Classrooms will also have webcams, through which students sent out to the Zoom room can tune back in. Lesson plans will be selected by the central office and teachers are expected to stick to the schedule and pace.” - Houston Chronicle Editorial Board
On Wednesday at the Houston City Council Meeting, Mayor Turner said that Miles has gone too far.
“Miles is dismantling the largest educational district in the state of Texas. You cannot educate the kids and close the libraries, and then turn them into disciplinary centers. What is the message that you are telling our kids?" asked Mayor Turner.
If there ever was a time to stand up for kids, it is now.
- Thursday, July 27: “Community Meeting” at Sugar Grove Academy (8405 Bonhomme Rd, 77074), 6:00 - 7:30 PM. Sign up HERE.
- Saturday, July 29: “Community Meeting” at West Briar Middle School (13733 Brimhurst Dr, 77077), 9:30-11:00 AM. Sign up HERE and two more next week.
- Saturday, July 29: CVPE Teach-In at Trinity Gardens Church of Christ (7725 Sandra St, 77016), 12:00 - 3:30 PM. Come eat, learn, and help develop a strategy to reduce the harm of the takeover. Sign up HERE.
- Tuesday, August 1: “Community Meeting” at Stevenson Middle School (9595 Winkler Dr, 77017), 6:00 - 7:30 PM. Sign up HERE.
- Wednesday, August 2: “Community Meeting” at Crispus Attuck Middle School (4330 Bellfort Ave, 77051), 6:00 - 7:30 PM. Sign up HERE.
If you cannot attend any of the meetings or the Teach-In, you can donate here to support our ongoing efforts.
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