COMING SOON to a school near you

If you think the NES school changes don’t affect you, think again. Even though there are 29 NES schools this year, HISD has announced that more than half of its schools–150 to be exact–will be NES schools within two years. And these will not be based on the school’s performance but on the scores of whichever high school is in the school’s feeder pattern. For example, A-rated Pugh Elementary is an NES school this year because it is in the Wheatley feeder pattern. So check your local high school’s score. Will your school be next?

Removing TEACHERS and STAFF

Everyone but custodial, nutrition, transportation, and health services

All school-based teachers and staff at all NES schools have already been removed from their positions and told to reapply this summer if they want their spot back. They are not guaranteed their same school if they do apply; and many have already chosen to seek jobs at other schools where they can be guaranteed a job immediately.

Who will replace the teachers and staff?

Miles says that the large salary increase for NES teachers will attract the best educators. He also said at the June 22nd board meeting that he expects many new teachers to come in from other cities. We can expect that our kids’ teachers this fall will be strangers who were attracted to the money and promise of less work (see “scripted lessons” below) and don’t mind being treated like automatons.

These are the principals at the NES schools for 2023-24, announced on 6.27.23

Ending DUAL-LANGUAGE programs

Our Spanish- and English-speaking students have thrived together learning both languages side-by-side and using them naturally outside of language class. Research has shown for years that developing a student’s literacy in their first language supports and promotes literacy in their new language, which is why dual-language programs are written into policy. But that all ends now. Students at NES schools will be in English-only classes from now on. They will be divided into classes based on their level of English proficiency, and some will receive ESL support.

Ending MAGNET programs

Miles says his changes won’t affect magnet programs because his Dyad program replaces them. However, there won’t be any more magnet coordinators, magnet teachers, magnet classes, or magnet projects. Click on the video to see the difference between our NES schools’ magnet programs and the Dyad program already in place at Miles’ Third Futures charter schools–the same program he’s imposing on HISD schools. There is a drastic difference between the two. See for yourself!

Weak SPECIALS & ELECTIVE classes

NES schools will no longer have certified specials and elective teachers on campus every day teaching students and helping them develop their passions for art, music, sports, and more. They are being replaced with contracted individuals (not certified teachers) who will go to a campus two times a week to teach a particular skill. These “Dyad” classes are shown in the video above. Not only are they less qualified to teach, these temporary instructors are not strongly connected to the school community like the specials teachers were. They will not be present at school events and assemblies, won’t volunteer to sponsor after school clubs, won’t spend their time getting grants for special programs and implementing them with our children, and they won’t stick around for long.

SCRIPTED Lessons

Teachers at the NES schools have to follow the same lesson plans on the same schedule. Our old teachers made lessons more engaging, fun, and memorable based our children’s needs and preferences. One teacher brought in waffles to help kids understand the idea that 1/2 is bigger than 1/4. The teachers will now be extremely limited in their creativity since “the curriculum is standardized for all NES schools.” Additionally, other staff will be grading our children’s work, not their teachers.

UNSECURED doors

HISD announced that classroom doors will remain unlocked and wide open this 2023-2024 school year so principals can see what’s happening in each classroom. This creates a safety problem for our children. Students can slip out of the room unnoticed and kids causing trouble can easily slip in. Additionally, anyone who gains access to the building will have easy access to our children. All of this is entirely unnecessary because principals already have keys to all of the rooms in the building. Why compromise our children’s safety just to save a principal the trouble of turning a lock?

Ending SCHOOL LIBRARIES

Miles said at the June 22nd board meeting that all librarians do is check out books; so he saves money by getting rid of them. Librarians were an every-day presence at our schools, reading aloud to children in a specials class, inspiring in them the joy of reading, a welcome break from tougher reading classes. Many kids haven’t been to libraries outside of their school building; now they will not visit libraries at all.

Live-streaming our children and Zoom Room Discipline

When our kids had to do school on Zoom during the COVID shutdown, they fell behind in their learning for those years. However, Miles is bringing back Zoom school. Imagine a young child acts up in class. In Miles’ plan, the child is sent to another room to watch his class on zoom and is expected to keep up with the learning. Sending students to the zoom room does not help them reflect on their actions or participate in meaningful learning experiences. And there are potential problems with using this for students who require specific accommodations. This also means our kids’ classes are livestreamed all day every day–an invasion of our children’s privacy–and it requires teachers to make every lesson hybrid-friendly, which is burdensome. HISD is moving forward with this plan without providing any evidence that Zoom is effective for discipline or learning.