SALE! 3 Months for 25¢Access news, guides, puzzles and more. Act Now Sale Ends Sept. 14 |
Reversing course from a vote earlier this week, the Republican-led State Board of Education voted this morning to overhaul the state's current social studies curriculum, approving a plan to replace the current framework with a Texas-centric and chronological instructional model.
Under the plan, future Texas students will learn world, U.S. and Texas history chronologically, beginning with the birth of Western civilization in third grade and ending with topics like "the perils of communism" and "the Texas miracle" in seventh grade.
After learning about history up to the year 2000, they'll spend eighth grade in a deep dive capstone course that synthesizes the history of Texas and the U.S. "as leaders in the nation and world."
Must-reads:
- Houston ISD is asking business leaders to "adopt" one of the district's 64 non-charter schools that received a C or D in the state's 2025 accountability ratings.
- A vehicle hit a Lamar High School student Tuesday, sending them to the hospital with non-life threatening injuries. It's the second time a vehicle hit a student this school year.
Photo by: Houston Chronicle
The Houston ISD Board of Managers unanimously approved Superintendent Mike Miles' annual evaluation Thursday, awarding him an unknown bonus in addition to his $462,000 base salary.
He's eligible to earn up to $231,000 — half of his base salary — as a bonus, although it's currently unclear how much he'll qualify for this year. (An HISD spokesperson said the district would release the results of Miles' evaluation to the Chronicle in the coming days — so stay tuned.)
To recap, how does Miles get evaluated every year?
According to the rubric, 60% of his evaluation is based on whether HISD met certain student achievement goals and the remaining 40% is based on how he performed on an executive leadership and vision rubric.
Miles' goals are based on the percentage of third-graders who earned "meets grade level" on the reading and math STAAR, graduates who are college-ready and earned an industry-based certification, and students who achieve growth while receiving special education services.
Meanwhile, the leadership rubric evaluates Miles on several categories, including how he has demonstrated vision, made effective decisions, and constructed a positive communications strategy.
How much did he earn in his previous evaluation?
In his first evaluation, Miles earned a bonus of more than $126,000 after receiving 66.7 of the 100 possible points from the board, which brought his total annual compensation to more than $506,000.
He earned 35 of 60 available points in the student outcomes section and 31.7 out of 40 points on the executive leadership and vision rubric. He later defended the bonus as "well deserved" for improving student achievement on the STAAR more than any other superintendent in the state.
Inside the Reporter's Notebook
Mike Morath, the Texas Commissioner of Education, will be visiting Houston Saturday to speak at txEDCON, a yearly conference of the state's public school board trustees and administrators.
Morath will be speaking at the George R. Brown Convention Center on the state of public education and legislation passed during the 89th legislative session, including House Bill 2, the K-12 education funding bill.
He's scheduled to speak a day after Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick, who spoke earlier today about the state of Texas public education, including teacher pay and benefits and career and technical education.
Keep an eye out for our coverage of both of their remarks!
What Else Happened This Week
 Photo by: Raquel Natalicchio, Staff Photographer |
Texas AFT called on two associations to cancel business with a downtown hotel during a workers' strike. Read More |
|
 Photo by: Raquel Natalicchio, Staff Photographer |
Houston leaders including Sen. Molly Cook, Texas Rep. Simmons and several scholars launched the new commission to gather data and experiences from families. Read More |
|
 Photo by: Johnny Hanson, Houston Chronicle |
Both HISD and Dallas ISD have improved in their accountability ratings in 2025. Here's how they stack up on test scores, enrollment and more. Read More |
|
 Photo by: Jason Fochtman, Staff Photographer |
More than 40 people trained by the district official came to lead schools for the 2025-26 school year. Read More |
|
 Photo by: Sharon Steinmann, Houston Chronicle |
Another Lamar High School student was struck by a vehicle in the 2025-26 school year. Read More |
|
 Photo by: Brett Coomer, Houston Chronicle |
Students nearing high school graduation scored lower than ever before in national math and reading tests in 2024, according to the Nation's Report Card. Read More |
|
Photo by: Sharon Steinmann, Houston Chronicle |
"Unfortunately, it takes a student to be injured crossing Westheimer or someone to be killed trying to cross N. Shepherd Drive to get the city to install a proper red-light crossing signal," one reader says. Read More |
|
 Photo by: Jason Fochtman, Houston Chronicle |
Houston ISD recognized principals at the September Board of Managers meeting. Read More |
|
 Photo by: Jason Fochtman, Staff Photographer |
The district will shift to law enforcement notifications versus annual criminal history checks for employees. Read More |
|
The Calendar Ahead
• Sept. 25: Audit Committee meeting at 2 p.m. at Hattie Mae White Center
• Sept. 25: Employee hearings at 5 p.m. at Hattie Mae White Center
• Sept. 30: Deadline to submit teachers for H-E-B Excellence Awards
• Oct. 2: Staff Professional Development Day; No classes
• Oct. 3: HISD Recess; No classes
• Oct. 7: District Advisory Committee meeting at 5:15 p.m. at Hattie Mae White Center
Meet The Team
Photo by: Susan Barber
Our HISD coverage is fueled by reporting from Megan Menchaca, Nusaiba Mizan, Claire Partain and Anastasia Goodwin. Jennifer Radcliffe is the education team editor.
You can reach out to any of them by emailing them at their firstname.lastname@houstonchronicle.com, filling out this survey or by replying directly to this email.
No comments:
Post a Comment