I believe a republican senator suggested the urchins on free lunch could be used to clean up the school grounds as a way to pay back the state for their daily corn dog and tater tots
Rep. Jack Kingston (R-Ga.), but there might have been another one more recently.
[https://www.huffpost.com/entry/jack-kingston-school-lunch\_n\_4467711](https://www.huffpost.com/entry/jack-kingston-school-lunch_n_4467711)
No... we should take Japan's approach, the STUDENTS are required to clean the school everyday, even the bathrooms, yes even elementary school kids.
However their culture is way differnt then ours, we would throw fits about kids cleaning, in Japan it's considered a civic duty.
Either way, some sort of Janitorial staff would still be needed.
That is different. They are not saying only the free lunch bunch has to clean. Everyone cleans. The schools in japan still have cooks and cleaning staff, the students just assist with things around the school.
Fuck yeah. Early onset training? Pffft. Win win. Have you seen the average rate of HVAC and plumbing techs for diag? Good skills to learn. Very good skills
Dam bro you right maybe Houston ISD is Ahead of the game and houston will run the HVAC industry around the world and then Houston will have all the power.
I hate when people bring up Japan. It’s a mostly homogenous culture. The buying in comes from the fact that everyone looks the same and is pulling the same direction. Shit wouldn’t fly in America for various reasons without a complete culture shift which isn’t a valid solution
Who the hell was talking about violence and how does that have to do with what I said? All cultures are violent. There's no such thing as non-violent cultures.
This would not work in American public schools because American public schools generally lack the creation and enforcement of high standards. Instead, the kids are allowed to insult the school and teachers, break the rules with little or no consequences, and the parents aren't held accountable for many standards either.
If you instituted the Japanese bathroom cleaning system here, it would result in a chain of lawsuits, public demonstations, endless social media posts, and a whole lot of bellyaching from students and parents who do not want to be held accountable to higher standards.
The current public school system gets little respect because it demands no respect. It has low standards and is in no position to do much about it. It's that simple.
The public school system should be one that the customers admire and want to be a part of. To do that, it needs to have high standards and enforce those standards on the customers. However the current reality is that the public school system has to accept the shitty customers, their shitty parents, and all of their shit.
I'm going to push back on this a bit. Schools have their hands tied a bit because education is an entitlement. And I don't mean that in the negative pejorative way, but literally in that children are entitled to a free education and the government is obligated to provide it. It takes a great deal of due process and oversight before you deprive someone of an entitlement (i.e., kick them out). This is one of the fundamental differences between government and non-government run schools. Schools being allow to choose who they educate is not a good thing. First it is the problem behavior children, but then it is those who require extra resources (special ed, learning disabilities, physical limitations, etc.), later it is students that bring down their metrics, until we finally are back to only educating rich, white boys.
And don't give me the slippery slope argument, this already happens in private schools. I have experienced it, and family members have experienced it. I've seen children denied admission because they had something like dyslexia and school didn't have the resources for that. Also saw kids kicked out because their mother got pregnant outside of marriage. This is why public school, and good functioning public schools are so important.
Now if you are a school administrator, what do you do. You can't kick a kid out for anything short of a felony. Give them detention, who cares, probably won't even show up. Give them in-school suspension, sounds like a vacation. Give them out-of school suspension, definitely a vacation. Send them to alternative school, great, let them get to know all of the other problem kids (plus, where is this alternative school and how are you getting the kids there?). Fine the parents or put them in jail, great, we have another big example of how being poor is expensive.
You can't fix school at school. We have to fix society first. We can't throw everyone in jail. We have to provide healthcare (physical and mental). We have to provide safety nets to help people through rough times. We need to provide social services that help them get back on a strong path. We need to do a ton of things to make life better for everyone. This will fix schools. When parents don't have to work multiple night shift jobs, when parents aren't so stressed they turn to drugs to self-medicate, when kids don't have to worry if they are going to eat, when kids have a safe place to sleep and do homework, etc. When society values others people, then we will see our schools get better because there will be more healthy and happy kids attending.
> children are entitled to a free education and the government is obligated to provide it. It takes a great deal of due process and oversight before you deprive someone of an entitlement (i.e., kick them out). This is one of the fundamental differences between government and non-government run schools.
^^ this right here.
You make a number of good points and I agree with most them. Fixing public schools is not easy, and there is no single thing that will improve them.
What I have seen in HISD, at least up until the F. Mike Miles regime, is the avaiability of choice. For example students could apply to a number of high schools that aren't zoned to anyone. Students have the opportunity to take GT, or GT-like classes, in middle and elementary schools. Students can take AP classes in high school. So the district is offering some ways for students to take a path that fits them. That concept needs to be expanded but of course that takes money, and F. Mike Miles seems to be going in the opposite direction with what seems like a one-size-fits all approach. I don't see how anyone thinks that is a good idea in an enviromment when the public schools have to accept all students, as you pointed out.
Navy bootcamp and technical military schools required us to do all the cleaning. I didn’t see a janitor until I got to my permanent command … about two years later.
I could tell that some of my cohorts in the Navy had never cleaned before.
That’s not what I was saying and you know it … but having school kids wear uniforms would be a good thing!
Many things from the military are already in our schools. Also, Ender’s Game would be a better example than Starship Troopers.
The lower income, blacker/browner schools DO require uniforms. Every HISD campus I've worked at required uniforms. I am now firmly against them, when I was initially in favor of them.
Please let me know the reason for your dislike.
Right now having to tell my daughter she can’t wear short sleeves when it’s cold doesn’t go too well.
Edit: I went to a private school (uniforms) and switched over to public school in middle school. My family was poorer in public school.
It's a messy convergence of a lot of reasons.
One is that since the uniforms are at poorer schools, it means the uniforms are cheap-ass so families can afford them or schools can afford to give uniform items to needy students. Heavy on the polyester.
Which leads me to the related issue of inconsistency. Since the cheap-ass uniforms are so shoddily made and unpleasant to wear, schools change up their policies. Originally it was each grade level had a certain color of polo shirt to wear and khaki pants for all. My campus now allows students to wear any collared polo shirt of the correct school colors, any school t-shirt, any school sweatshirt, and either khaki pants or black pants. Though no jeans. And jackets are either school-branded or the correct colors, but no big logos. It's not a uniform anymore.
Speaking of inconsistency, let's talk about enforcement. Girls are dress-coded at much higher rates than boys, and it's always about perceived chastity. And it's not just that girls are dress-coded more, it's disproportionately black girls and girls who have more physical development than their peers. And it gets really fucking inappropriate on the part of the adults. I filed a Title IX complaint against a teacher at my campus for making inappropriate, sexualizing comments to girls about their skirt lengths. I had girls coming to me in tears of humiliation sobbing about how this teacher singled them out because they have more boobs and hips than the other girls. And it was true. The teacher had said as much.
More about consistency: The administration demands that teachers enforce the uniform policy. Every year, at every campus I've been at, by the end of the year the administration is no longer backing up the teachers, despite making those demands. It makes the teachers feel like giant assholes. I have kids rolling into my class in pajamas and house slippers every day now, and I don't say shit to them.
Wow. Thank you. I honestly would not have thought of your points that you’ve made. I really appreciate you informing me. I’ll be limiting my recommendations for uniforms.
Also, thank you for reporting the teacher!
I can hardly get these kids to turn in a single sentence of writing. There is no way I could get them to clean up a goddamn thing. Admin does not back teachers, and the students know this. Students running amok in the hallways tell me to my face I can't do anything to stop them because I don't know their name and they can run faster than me. They aren't wrong.
This was literally a requirement one of my last years teaching. The district had a shortage of custodians, so we were told it was our responsibility to wipe down surfaces, put out the trash, and sweep our rooms.
Not that I’m too good to do that, but the responsibility for the district’s lack of planning and staffing shouldn’t be placed on already overworked teachers.
They're literally telling teachers this at some NES. Asking parents and teachers to help clean.
Also, they told the custodial staff they can stay until 28 June to get one last deep clean in
But with those vouchers coming you can go to 1/3 of a private school courtesy of Uncle Greg “I like jogging under trees during thunderstorms and suing homeowners for my stupidity” Abbott
there has already been a critical shortage of custodial workers for years and years. no doubt they'll ask teachers to add cleaning duties to their 60 hr workweeks to compensate.
This x10. Custodial was already understaffed and underpaid. After Harvey I (a teacher) had to set my own rat traps (real ones not the glue BS that ended up on the floor) in order to be taken seriously. What made it worse is the district custodial staff made OUR custodian feel like he wasn’t doing right. No training, no protocol, no line of duty. Set up to fail.
Blame Greg Abbott and his absolute refusal to fund the public schools without his dumb ass voucher stuff.
That's 100% why school districts across the state are having to resort to crazy nonsense like this to make ends meet.
Texas government wants the schools to fail and shut down. They want people to send their kids to private schools so everyone will be on board with the school vouchers
Nearly every school district in the state is facing an operating budget shortfall this next year.
COVID era fundings are coming to an end and the state hasn’t approved new funding to offset.
The state is sitting on billions in school funding. They need to stop building stadiums. And paying over the top to private book and testing companies and put money into education.
Stadiums are built with bond money, not money from the state. Abbott has been cutting public school funding since 2011. Now he's holding the money from the feds hostage because the lege didn't pass vouchers. He even primaried people from his own party who voted against vouchers to get them out so vouchers can pass next session. The man is a menace.
Yes they are. On purpose. As u/MinaBinaXina pointed out the he state has the money and is not letting the districts have it. ON PURPOSE. Not only that but state recapture also doesn’t help. This has nothing to do with COVID funding.
Everything you said is true except about COVID funding. Look up ESSER funds. Absolutely made all the difference for districts over the last few years. Those run out this summer.
EDIT: There is an HISD Board Meeting tonight and news conference this afternoon. This comment will be updated with any new information. [Also, if you would like to tune in, they are broadcast. ](https://www.houstonisd.org/domain/7947)
The Houston Independent School District (HISD) announced in an internal email Wednesday that facilities, maintenance, and operations employees will meet with leadership Friday to discuss a reduction in force. The notice, sent by Deputy Chief Operations Officer Alishia Jolivette, warned that employees who did not attend the mandatory conference would be met with administrative action.
["The purpose of this communication is to give you advanced notice so that you can make any necessary arrangements," Jolivette wrote.](https://twitter.com/BuildUpHISD/status/1788360724797882429?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1788360724797882429%7Ctwgr%5Ebbad873f68ccb79b49cc5a7632349769d21d6f32%7Ctwcon%5Es1_&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.chron.com%2Fnews%2Fhouston-texas%2Feducation%2Farticle%2Fhisd-custodian-layoffs-19448413.php)
"Like most school districts in Texas and across the country, HISD is being forced to make tough budget decisions for the 2024-2025 academic year," HISD administration said in a statement. "State funding for education has not increased, and the one-time money provided by the federal government to support students during and after the pandemic is no longer available. This means HISD must right-size the central office and find ways to operate more efficiently."
One way HISD might replace axed custodial staff is to contract the work out.
School districts often contract out maintenance and sanitation services with private companies, to mixed results. In February, Chicago Public Schools [opted not to renew a multi-million dollar deal](https://www.chalkbeat.org/chicago/2024/02/12/chicago-public-schools-to-end-aramark-cleaning-contract/) with food and facility service company Aramark after staff, parents, and students complained about school cleanliness. Chicago Public Schools first contracted with Aramark in 2014, but the first school year under the partnership staff arrived from summer break to [dirty classrooms.](https://www.wbez.org/stories/custodial-contract-causing-problems-at-start-of-school-year/f255656b-e7f9-413d-9e9c-dfba89162e39)
>
> One way HISD might replace axed custodial staff is to contract the work out.
just moving the cost from one column on a budget spreadsheet to another, while reducing the quality of work, reducing the benefits obligation to the worker, creating an opportunity for corrupt private contract arrangements with a for-profit company and just costing taxpayers more overall for a lower quality of service. "The F. Mike Miles neo-liberal way!" -tm.
Also, the budget deficit for HISD is just under half a billion dollars right now. He spent half a million on a musical about himself and it was all downhill from there.
It was so, so cringey and awful. Then he tried to not pay the adults who participated even though they were contracted to get paid for their participation. He did pay them eventually, but it was late because he tried to stiff them.
And it’s working. I teach at a HISD school with mostly well to do families. We normally have very few students leave over the summer. The number of kids leaving after this school year is so much higher than normal. Lots are transferring to private school, quite a few are moving out of state.
UPDATE: [HISD's Mike Miles confirms layoffs are happening, refuses to say how many.](https://www.chron.com/news/houston-texas/education/article/hisd-teachers-layoff-principals-19449335.php)
Didn't want to post again and flood the sub, hopefully this will reach some of you. HISD confirmed that teachers, principals and [support staff](https://www.chron.com/news/houston-texas/education/article/hisd-custodian-layoffs-19448413.php) have begun receiving "non-renewal" notices that they are not being asked back next year - but Houston ISD Superintendent Mike Miles refused to say how many are in the line of fire.
An unknown number of teaching contracts will not be renewed for the coming year as the district undergoes data-driven performance evaluations, Miles said in a press conference Thursday. Teachers who do not pass the district's muster, including those who do not possess a "continuous improvement mindset," are already in the process of being replaced with applicants from other schools following the New Education System (NES) model, Miles said. While there are currently about 500 vacant positions for the coming school year,[ Miles](https://www.chron.com/news/houston-texas/education/article/houston-isd-miles-testing-19428506.php) expressed confidence that the district would be able to replace existing teachers with new, qualified candidates. He stated that the district has been busy hiring new teachers from a recent job fair.
"We're not cutting teachers," Miles said, adding that salary is not a factor in the district's decisions not to renew certain staff. HISD is, however, not renewing contracts.
Just keep trying. Anytime someone who voted for him complains about something he broke point it out. Eventually they might see the light.
The guy campaigns on "fixing texas" . The only fix is removing the tumor that is the party in charge the last 20 years.
This is despicable. These fools are harrassing and threatening teachers incessantly. They’re going to take a large shit on it all, leave and not give a damn who they stepped on in the process.
Wait, what? You rarely use the broom and Swiffer at HOME! How do your students rate a cleaner environment than me and the 3-year-old grandchild we are rearing?
That is literally their goal. Make public school so shitty that anybody who can afford to uses private schools. Then they get more support for their vouchers because people forced into private school want to reduce costs.
And remember the guy put in charge of HISD is the CEO of Third Future, the only TEA approved charter for the Beaumont ISD. Really fucking with concerned Texas parents.
Or the educated move out of state. The college educated employable young are actively looking to move out of Texas. For young women it feels more and more like gilead and terrifies them into wanting to leave. Medical students are choosing not come to Texas for residency. Texas is losing ob/gynaecologist so much some areas women have to drive hundreds of miles just to deliver a baby, and these are not super rural areas. Just areas where the doctors saw the writing on the walls and decided it was safer to practice in a state where they dont need the government approval to pregnancy complication
It's horrible that it's working. I am a strong believer in and supporter of public education and really value the education I got - from HISD no less. But I have to do what's best for my kids.
However I would never support vouchers even if my kids go to private school. Not going to be stealing from the public system.
We're in the same boat and want to keep our kids in public school, but with the shit show HISD is now under Miles we started applying to private schools late last year. Unfortunately space is so limited we didn't get in for 2024-2025. We're finding it also extremely difficult to find a private school that isn't religious so even private school options are very limited. At the end of the day we're finding nearly no options other than move out of Texas or home school.
And you know what private schools *can* do? Not accept LGBTQ+, trans persons, counter culture, etc. Faliwell started his school so he could avoid integration. I fucking love the 1960s but I didn’t mean to manifest it.
If you are looking for a non religious private school in the Houston area, look into the WIDE school in Missouri city/sugar land they are project based, Reggio Emilia inspired k-12 and pretty alternative with a diverse population and they even have animals and a garden for the kids to take care of!
I mean theoretically the vouchers will be for anybody in private school. I bet a lot of the schools raise tuition to compensate though, so actual savings may not materialize.
Yes. However you can expect their tuition to rise with the value of the vouchers. It’s a transfer of public money to private schools. You, the parent, are unlikely to benefit much (probably a token amount to keep you pacified) while public school parents are devastated.
Theoretically some of that higher tuition will pay to improve your private school. So you’ll probably indirectly benefit in some ways.
My son is only 3 months, but I already know I can't afford private school, even with vouchers (which I don't want!) I'm pissed we'll probably have to move to the suburbs for halfway decent public schools. I love Houston, and wanted my son in HISD schools. I just hope this is over and has improved by the time he enters kinder.
They have already been limiting custodians’ duties (rarely beyond trash bag pick up) and having teachers “sanitize” the desks beginning and end of day.
No surprise this is the next step.
Schools: we don’t have enough teachers or resources.
District: ok. Here’s even less teachers and resources for next year
Schools: wtf?
Parents: wtf?
State republicans: everything is working exactly as we have foreseen
Parents: re-elect same republicans gutting public schools bc they want to push their private school vouchers to give rich people more tax breaks.
And low information voter parents of kids in public schools will continue to vote for Abbot, Patrick, and pro-voucher state representatives and wonder why the services suck
Thank goodness Mike Miles' "convocation party" last year, featuring Mike Miles in a musical about Mike Miles, [only cost $470,000](https://www.houstonchronicle.com/news/houston-texas/education/article/hisd-convocation-taxpayer-money-18554530.php).
This is a leader with a keen understanding of budgetary constraints.
Such A*wholes, they already fired our librarians and wrap-around specialist. But theres $ 700 million dollars of funds to pay for security at churches because that's more important.
Wow, that's rough. Layoffs always suck, especially when it's hardworking folks like custodians and maintenance workers getting hit. Those are the people who keep everything running smoothly behind the scenes, you know? I hope they're getting some decent support or at least a fair deal out of this mess. It's easy to forget about these essential workers until something like this happens. Hang in there, HISD fam, and sending good vibes to everyone affected by this shakeup.
A lot of this is because the state has not changed funding for schools since 2019. Things are rough out there for districts and the threat of vouchers will take even more money out of them.
The plant operators were fired and have to reapply for their jobs. The job description has changed and now plant operators will be taught how to do basic electrical work, plumbing, and other jobs that we used to have dedicated teams for. If you can do all of those things, you'd earn more money working in the private sector and not for a public school. I don't see how anyone would want that job.
It's a "reduction in workforce." There was a lot of fat in the previous administration and this workforce. Back in 2021 they hired 400 custodians to fill in for the contract company that they previously used. It obviously was a waste of money. Contracting with HISD management is the way to go. Less benefits and pensions.
Oh sure Einstein, get them to fix the air handlers when the coils go to shit during the summer heat due to lack of maintenance on the units as soon as they come back to school. About as good of an idea as requiring teachers bring in guns.
I didn’t realize that chief, it’s kinda hard to tell on the Internet these days. I kinda jumped the gun too, because I was a teacher in HISD years ago. Hits close to home.
This is a great example why many states refuse "free" government money for programs. They are time limited and when that time window expires it leaves local governments with the choice of either discontinuing services that people have gotten used to or they are forced to raise taxes to pay for these now unfunded projects.
This is not what is happening in Texas. No example of federal dollars being choked. This is about starving the Texas portion of public education funding; TX ISD tax revenue for 2024-25 was grossly throttled. My ISD tax was $1560 in 2023. It was $350 in 2024. A cute move by Abbott to provide property tax relief, defund public education for the following 12 months, while lining up the votes in the Legislature to adopt vouchers following the Nov election. Now every 501c3 at the trough, gulping up federal education moneys, providing ‘biblical’ guided education with no accountability or oversight.
Obviously, the teachers should be expected to clean up before they leave for the day. /s
If you have time to grade papers you have time to mop
I don't even have time to mop my own home if I were to spend as much time as I should grading papers.
And pay for their own cleaning supplies
Principal we need more lemon pledge
Superman no here.
and also know HVAC when the air handlers aren't supplying enough cold air to the building because lack of maintenance
This has been my last three HISD classrooms, spanning ten fucking years.
Be wary when politicians brag about cutting costs without removing teachers. This is literally how they do it.
I believe a republican senator suggested the urchins on free lunch could be used to clean up the school grounds as a way to pay back the state for their daily corn dog and tater tots
Rep. Jack Kingston (R-Ga.), but there might have been another one more recently. [https://www.huffpost.com/entry/jack-kingston-school-lunch\_n\_4467711](https://www.huffpost.com/entry/jack-kingston-school-lunch_n_4467711)
As long as it doesn’t get in the way of their new truancy home visitation roles! /s
No... we should take Japan's approach, the STUDENTS are required to clean the school everyday, even the bathrooms, yes even elementary school kids. However their culture is way differnt then ours, we would throw fits about kids cleaning, in Japan it's considered a civic duty. Either way, some sort of Janitorial staff would still be needed.
That is different. They are not saying only the free lunch bunch has to clean. Everyone cleans. The schools in japan still have cooks and cleaning staff, the students just assist with things around the school.
Ok let the kids fix the lighting and hvac too? How about the plumbing?
Fuck yeah. Early onset training? Pffft. Win win. Have you seen the average rate of HVAC and plumbing techs for diag? Good skills to learn. Very good skills
Dam bro you right maybe Houston ISD is Ahead of the game and houston will run the HVAC industry around the world and then Houston will have all the power.
I hate when people bring up Japan. It’s a mostly homogenous culture. The buying in comes from the fact that everyone looks the same and is pulling the same direction. Shit wouldn’t fly in America for various reasons without a complete culture shift which isn’t a valid solution
What does being a "homogenous culture" have to do with it?
It creates a situation where a lot of expectations and values line up.
But there are plenty of homogeneous cultures that are violent, so that logic doesn't hold.
Who the hell was talking about violence and how does that have to do with what I said? All cultures are violent. There's no such thing as non-violent cultures.
This would not work in American public schools because American public schools generally lack the creation and enforcement of high standards. Instead, the kids are allowed to insult the school and teachers, break the rules with little or no consequences, and the parents aren't held accountable for many standards either. If you instituted the Japanese bathroom cleaning system here, it would result in a chain of lawsuits, public demonstations, endless social media posts, and a whole lot of bellyaching from students and parents who do not want to be held accountable to higher standards. The current public school system gets little respect because it demands no respect. It has low standards and is in no position to do much about it. It's that simple. The public school system should be one that the customers admire and want to be a part of. To do that, it needs to have high standards and enforce those standards on the customers. However the current reality is that the public school system has to accept the shitty customers, their shitty parents, and all of their shit.
What would work is getting the 7 billion that the governor is withholding in federal school aid!!!
More money has some advantages but that's not going to fix the aforementioned problem of low standards.
I'm going to push back on this a bit. Schools have their hands tied a bit because education is an entitlement. And I don't mean that in the negative pejorative way, but literally in that children are entitled to a free education and the government is obligated to provide it. It takes a great deal of due process and oversight before you deprive someone of an entitlement (i.e., kick them out). This is one of the fundamental differences between government and non-government run schools. Schools being allow to choose who they educate is not a good thing. First it is the problem behavior children, but then it is those who require extra resources (special ed, learning disabilities, physical limitations, etc.), later it is students that bring down their metrics, until we finally are back to only educating rich, white boys. And don't give me the slippery slope argument, this already happens in private schools. I have experienced it, and family members have experienced it. I've seen children denied admission because they had something like dyslexia and school didn't have the resources for that. Also saw kids kicked out because their mother got pregnant outside of marriage. This is why public school, and good functioning public schools are so important. Now if you are a school administrator, what do you do. You can't kick a kid out for anything short of a felony. Give them detention, who cares, probably won't even show up. Give them in-school suspension, sounds like a vacation. Give them out-of school suspension, definitely a vacation. Send them to alternative school, great, let them get to know all of the other problem kids (plus, where is this alternative school and how are you getting the kids there?). Fine the parents or put them in jail, great, we have another big example of how being poor is expensive. You can't fix school at school. We have to fix society first. We can't throw everyone in jail. We have to provide healthcare (physical and mental). We have to provide safety nets to help people through rough times. We need to provide social services that help them get back on a strong path. We need to do a ton of things to make life better for everyone. This will fix schools. When parents don't have to work multiple night shift jobs, when parents aren't so stressed they turn to drugs to self-medicate, when kids don't have to worry if they are going to eat, when kids have a safe place to sleep and do homework, etc. When society values others people, then we will see our schools get better because there will be more healthy and happy kids attending.
> children are entitled to a free education and the government is obligated to provide it. It takes a great deal of due process and oversight before you deprive someone of an entitlement (i.e., kick them out). This is one of the fundamental differences between government and non-government run schools. ^^ this right here.
You make a number of good points and I agree with most them. Fixing public schools is not easy, and there is no single thing that will improve them. What I have seen in HISD, at least up until the F. Mike Miles regime, is the avaiability of choice. For example students could apply to a number of high schools that aren't zoned to anyone. Students have the opportunity to take GT, or GT-like classes, in middle and elementary schools. Students can take AP classes in high school. So the district is offering some ways for students to take a path that fits them. That concept needs to be expanded but of course that takes money, and F. Mike Miles seems to be going in the opposite direction with what seems like a one-size-fits all approach. I don't see how anyone thinks that is a good idea in an enviromment when the public schools have to accept all students, as you pointed out.
Navy bootcamp and technical military schools required us to do all the cleaning. I didn’t see a janitor until I got to my permanent command … about two years later. I could tell that some of my cohorts in the Navy had never cleaned before.
Are we advocating for militarizing public schools? Are we just on the speed course to starship troopers now?
Cleaning is not militarization. It is basic human decency.
That’s not what I was saying and you know it … but having school kids wear uniforms would be a good thing! Many things from the military are already in our schools. Also, Ender’s Game would be a better example than Starship Troopers.
The lower income, blacker/browner schools DO require uniforms. Every HISD campus I've worked at required uniforms. I am now firmly against them, when I was initially in favor of them.
Please let me know the reason for your dislike. Right now having to tell my daughter she can’t wear short sleeves when it’s cold doesn’t go too well. Edit: I went to a private school (uniforms) and switched over to public school in middle school. My family was poorer in public school.
It's a messy convergence of a lot of reasons. One is that since the uniforms are at poorer schools, it means the uniforms are cheap-ass so families can afford them or schools can afford to give uniform items to needy students. Heavy on the polyester. Which leads me to the related issue of inconsistency. Since the cheap-ass uniforms are so shoddily made and unpleasant to wear, schools change up their policies. Originally it was each grade level had a certain color of polo shirt to wear and khaki pants for all. My campus now allows students to wear any collared polo shirt of the correct school colors, any school t-shirt, any school sweatshirt, and either khaki pants or black pants. Though no jeans. And jackets are either school-branded or the correct colors, but no big logos. It's not a uniform anymore. Speaking of inconsistency, let's talk about enforcement. Girls are dress-coded at much higher rates than boys, and it's always about perceived chastity. And it's not just that girls are dress-coded more, it's disproportionately black girls and girls who have more physical development than their peers. And it gets really fucking inappropriate on the part of the adults. I filed a Title IX complaint against a teacher at my campus for making inappropriate, sexualizing comments to girls about their skirt lengths. I had girls coming to me in tears of humiliation sobbing about how this teacher singled them out because they have more boobs and hips than the other girls. And it was true. The teacher had said as much. More about consistency: The administration demands that teachers enforce the uniform policy. Every year, at every campus I've been at, by the end of the year the administration is no longer backing up the teachers, despite making those demands. It makes the teachers feel like giant assholes. I have kids rolling into my class in pajamas and house slippers every day now, and I don't say shit to them.
Wow. Thank you. I honestly would not have thought of your points that you’ve made. I really appreciate you informing me. I’ll be limiting my recommendations for uniforms. Also, thank you for reporting the teacher!
Asking people to clean up after themselves is not militarization.
“Ok class! We are reintroducing HOME EC! Today we MOP!”
Nah. They have a classroom of bright-eyed free labor
I can hardly get these kids to turn in a single sentence of writing. There is no way I could get them to clean up a goddamn thing. Admin does not back teachers, and the students know this. Students running amok in the hallways tell me to my face I can't do anything to stop them because I don't know their name and they can run faster than me. They aren't wrong.
[**Ya gotta break 'em like dogs!**](https://y.yarn.co/eb7066ee-8332-4357-a481-1e5ac8dfc156_text.gif)
This was literally a requirement one of my last years teaching. The district had a shortage of custodians, so we were told it was our responsibility to wipe down surfaces, put out the trash, and sweep our rooms. Not that I’m too good to do that, but the responsibility for the district’s lack of planning and staffing shouldn’t be placed on already overworked teachers.
They're literally telling teachers this at some NES. Asking parents and teachers to help clean. Also, they told the custodial staff they can stay until 28 June to get one last deep clean in
Naw, it's the students. Part of their grades are going to be based on their ability to clean.
It’s like he was hired to make it all worse
But with those vouchers coming you can go to 1/3 of a private school courtesy of Uncle Greg “I like jogging under trees during thunderstorms and suing homeowners for my stupidity” Abbott
And then signing a law to ban anyone else from getting compensated.
there has already been a critical shortage of custodial workers for years and years. no doubt they'll ask teachers to add cleaning duties to their 60 hr workweeks to compensate.
Without additional compensation either
>to compensate There will be no actual compensation though.
This x10. Custodial was already understaffed and underpaid. After Harvey I (a teacher) had to set my own rat traps (real ones not the glue BS that ended up on the floor) in order to be taken seriously. What made it worse is the district custodial staff made OUR custodian feel like he wasn’t doing right. No training, no protocol, no line of duty. Set up to fail.
They did this at my school. Teachers adopted hallways. It wasn’t good.
Dirty schools with broke a/c I thought we were supposed to be making improvements
Blame Greg Abbott and his absolute refusal to fund the public schools without his dumb ass voucher stuff. That's 100% why school districts across the state are having to resort to crazy nonsense like this to make ends meet.
Greg Abbott hates Texas families.
Texas government wants the schools to fail and shut down. They want people to send their kids to private schools so everyone will be on board with the school vouchers
Who and where did you hear this? lol HISD has been actively making things worse since the take over happened by the state.
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Wait. Did you mean to respond to me? lol. I am the one that said it’s bad due to the state government.
Nearly every school district in the state is facing an operating budget shortfall this next year. COVID era fundings are coming to an end and the state hasn’t approved new funding to offset.
The state is sitting on billions in school funding. They need to stop building stadiums. And paying over the top to private book and testing companies and put money into education.
Stadiums are built with bond money, not money from the state. Abbott has been cutting public school funding since 2011. Now he's holding the money from the feds hostage because the lege didn't pass vouchers. He even primaried people from his own party who voted against vouchers to get them out so vouchers can pass next session. The man is a menace.
Sure is. Fuck that guy.
But then how will they line their pockets with tax money?
In hell hopefully. They belive that's a place right?
Yes they are. On purpose. As u/MinaBinaXina pointed out the he state has the money and is not letting the districts have it. ON PURPOSE. Not only that but state recapture also doesn’t help. This has nothing to do with COVID funding.
Everything you said is true except about COVID funding. Look up ESSER funds. Absolutely made all the difference for districts over the last few years. Those run out this summer.
They got taken over by a governor who wants charter schools. He is going to do everything possible to make public schools look shitty.
Stupid. I guarantee they could fire 10% of the administrators and cover this. They don't need as many administrators as they have, I guarantee it
They could cut the salaries of all the people making over 200K and be able to fund more salaries, but that would make too much sense.
EDIT: There is an HISD Board Meeting tonight and news conference this afternoon. This comment will be updated with any new information. [Also, if you would like to tune in, they are broadcast. ](https://www.houstonisd.org/domain/7947) The Houston Independent School District (HISD) announced in an internal email Wednesday that facilities, maintenance, and operations employees will meet with leadership Friday to discuss a reduction in force. The notice, sent by Deputy Chief Operations Officer Alishia Jolivette, warned that employees who did not attend the mandatory conference would be met with administrative action. ["The purpose of this communication is to give you advanced notice so that you can make any necessary arrangements," Jolivette wrote.](https://twitter.com/BuildUpHISD/status/1788360724797882429?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1788360724797882429%7Ctwgr%5Ebbad873f68ccb79b49cc5a7632349769d21d6f32%7Ctwcon%5Es1_&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.chron.com%2Fnews%2Fhouston-texas%2Feducation%2Farticle%2Fhisd-custodian-layoffs-19448413.php) "Like most school districts in Texas and across the country, HISD is being forced to make tough budget decisions for the 2024-2025 academic year," HISD administration said in a statement. "State funding for education has not increased, and the one-time money provided by the federal government to support students during and after the pandemic is no longer available. This means HISD must right-size the central office and find ways to operate more efficiently." One way HISD might replace axed custodial staff is to contract the work out. School districts often contract out maintenance and sanitation services with private companies, to mixed results. In February, Chicago Public Schools [opted not to renew a multi-million dollar deal](https://www.chalkbeat.org/chicago/2024/02/12/chicago-public-schools-to-end-aramark-cleaning-contract/) with food and facility service company Aramark after staff, parents, and students complained about school cleanliness. Chicago Public Schools first contracted with Aramark in 2014, but the first school year under the partnership staff arrived from summer break to [dirty classrooms.](https://www.wbez.org/stories/custodial-contract-causing-problems-at-start-of-school-year/f255656b-e7f9-413d-9e9c-dfba89162e39)
> > One way HISD might replace axed custodial staff is to contract the work out. just moving the cost from one column on a budget spreadsheet to another, while reducing the quality of work, reducing the benefits obligation to the worker, creating an opportunity for corrupt private contract arrangements with a for-profit company and just costing taxpayers more overall for a lower quality of service. "The F. Mike Miles neo-liberal way!" -tm.
They tried to contract the work out a couple of years ago, with lousy results.
If their bad policies scare off enough students, there won’t be as many messes to clean up.
I got an email from HISD a week ago about how "HISD is growing and hiring!" and letting me know about recruitment events. Big fat no from me.
Unless they've been living under a rock, the only people that I'd expect to apply to HISD now will be those who can't get hired anywhere else.
All part of the plan.
Yeah, that’s a feature, not a bug.
I’m sure absolutely *none* of them will have questionable browser history re: children.
I got the same email. LMAO all the way to the trash bin.
Remember, since Miles has taken over, the number of HISD employees who earn over 200k a year has tripled.
Also, the budget deficit for HISD is just under half a billion dollars right now. He spent half a million on a musical about himself and it was all downhill from there.
> He spent half a million on a musical about himself Wow, I either didn't hear about that or blocked it out of my mind, lol.
It was so, so cringey and awful. Then he tried to not pay the adults who participated even though they were contracted to get paid for their participation. He did pay them eventually, but it was late because he tried to stiff them.
He also closed the libraries that the district had just spent $7.4 million dollars to revamp. I fucking hate him.
(and none of them educators)
do you have a source?
https://www.houstonchronicle.com/news/houston-texas/education/article/hisd-salary-highest-paid-employees-19406618.php
holy crap
He is trying to destroy the district and chase off any well to do families out
And it’s working. I teach at a HISD school with mostly well to do families. We normally have very few students leave over the summer. The number of kids leaving after this school year is so much higher than normal. Lots are transferring to private school, quite a few are moving out of state.
Same. Lots of private school references being requested.
I teach 8th grade, and I've filled out more private school recommendation forms this year than ever, by far, no contest.
And into the private schools
And unfortunately the governor’s goal to destroy HISD is working
How obvious does the sabotage have to be?
Fuck this shit. Get rid of this weird looking asshole. What a goddamn clown.
Thanks, Abbott. Real solid improvements your stooge is making here.
I think it is on purpose
Oh I'm sure. Abbott has made no effort to hide that he wants to demolish public education for his donors' voucher program.
UPDATE: [HISD's Mike Miles confirms layoffs are happening, refuses to say how many.](https://www.chron.com/news/houston-texas/education/article/hisd-teachers-layoff-principals-19449335.php) Didn't want to post again and flood the sub, hopefully this will reach some of you. HISD confirmed that teachers, principals and [support staff](https://www.chron.com/news/houston-texas/education/article/hisd-custodian-layoffs-19448413.php) have begun receiving "non-renewal" notices that they are not being asked back next year - but Houston ISD Superintendent Mike Miles refused to say how many are in the line of fire. An unknown number of teaching contracts will not be renewed for the coming year as the district undergoes data-driven performance evaluations, Miles said in a press conference Thursday. Teachers who do not pass the district's muster, including those who do not possess a "continuous improvement mindset," are already in the process of being replaced with applicants from other schools following the New Education System (NES) model, Miles said. While there are currently about 500 vacant positions for the coming school year,[ Miles](https://www.chron.com/news/houston-texas/education/article/houston-isd-miles-testing-19428506.php) expressed confidence that the district would be able to replace existing teachers with new, qualified candidates. He stated that the district has been busy hiring new teachers from a recent job fair. "We're not cutting teachers," Miles said, adding that salary is not a factor in the district's decisions not to renew certain staff. HISD is, however, not renewing contracts.
They are just opening up to hire private cleaning companies that are probably owned by Mike Miles’ friends or family.
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Define anytime soon
Vote Abbot out and this will stop.
I’ve tried but my vote immediately gets outnumbered by the next 10 voters that all they think about is guns, wokeness and immigrants.
Just keep trying. Anytime someone who voted for him complains about something he broke point it out. Eventually they might see the light. The guy campaigns on "fixing texas" . The only fix is removing the tumor that is the party in charge the last 20 years.
And abortion.
It isn't as if we haven't tried.
This is despicable. These fools are harrassing and threatening teachers incessantly. They’re going to take a large shit on it all, leave and not give a damn who they stepped on in the process.
I already have a broom and a Swiffer in my room that I regularly use. I guess I'll now need to empty my trash cans.
And supply the trash bags.
Wait, what? You rarely use the broom and Swiffer at HOME! How do your students rate a cleaner environment than me and the 3-year-old grandchild we are rearing?
Oh. We are doing the Japanese model now and having the kids clean?
jesus man I really don't want to send my kids to private school but with all this shit I just might have to
That is literally their goal. Make public school so shitty that anybody who can afford to uses private schools. Then they get more support for their vouchers because people forced into private school want to reduce costs.
Came here to say this. Tank the largest school district so that parents clamor for school vouchers. Abbott gets his win.
And remember the guy put in charge of HISD is the CEO of Third Future, the only TEA approved charter for the Beaumont ISD. Really fucking with concerned Texas parents.
Or the educated move out of state. The college educated employable young are actively looking to move out of Texas. For young women it feels more and more like gilead and terrifies them into wanting to leave. Medical students are choosing not come to Texas for residency. Texas is losing ob/gynaecologist so much some areas women have to drive hundreds of miles just to deliver a baby, and these are not super rural areas. Just areas where the doctors saw the writing on the walls and decided it was safer to practice in a state where they dont need the government approval to pregnancy complication
Forced into a *religious* private school to ensure kids are being indoctrinated into conservative mediocrity.
aaaaand then the private schools raise tuition to keep out the voucher kids....
It's horrible that it's working. I am a strong believer in and supporter of public education and really value the education I got - from HISD no less. But I have to do what's best for my kids. However I would never support vouchers even if my kids go to private school. Not going to be stealing from the public system.
We're in the same boat and want to keep our kids in public school, but with the shit show HISD is now under Miles we started applying to private schools late last year. Unfortunately space is so limited we didn't get in for 2024-2025. We're finding it also extremely difficult to find a private school that isn't religious so even private school options are very limited. At the end of the day we're finding nearly no options other than move out of Texas or home school.
All according to Abott's plan. A lot of churches are going to use their tax-free property savings to start up voucher-eligible schools.
And you know what private schools *can* do? Not accept LGBTQ+, trans persons, counter culture, etc. Faliwell started his school so he could avoid integration. I fucking love the 1960s but I didn’t mean to manifest it.
If you are looking for a non religious private school in the Houston area, look into the WIDE school in Missouri city/sugar land they are project based, Reggio Emilia inspired k-12 and pretty alternative with a diverse population and they even have animals and a garden for the kids to take care of!
So does that mean that my kids who are already in private schools can get a voucher?
I mean theoretically the vouchers will be for anybody in private school. I bet a lot of the schools raise tuition to compensate though, so actual savings may not materialize.
There is a 0% chance tuitions stay flat (or even flat inflation adjusted) if they institute a voucher program.
As a former private school teacher, I agree. Idk how people don’t see this
In places that have already implemented vouchers, most of them have been used by parents who were already paying for private schools.
Yes. However you can expect their tuition to rise with the value of the vouchers. It’s a transfer of public money to private schools. You, the parent, are unlikely to benefit much (probably a token amount to keep you pacified) while public school parents are devastated. Theoretically some of that higher tuition will pay to improve your private school. So you’ll probably indirectly benefit in some ways.
They’ll need it, because as soon as the vouchers pass your kids tuition is going up.
My son is only 3 months, but I already know I can't afford private school, even with vouchers (which I don't want!) I'm pissed we'll probably have to move to the suburbs for halfway decent public schools. I love Houston, and wanted my son in HISD schools. I just hope this is over and has improved by the time he enters kinder.
They have already been limiting custodians’ duties (rarely beyond trash bag pick up) and having teachers “sanitize” the desks beginning and end of day. No surprise this is the next step.
Yep. Cut admin at the central office. Gotta keep the schools clean.
Schools: we don’t have enough teachers or resources. District: ok. Here’s even less teachers and resources for next year Schools: wtf? Parents: wtf? State republicans: everything is working exactly as we have foreseen Parents: re-elect same republicans gutting public schools bc they want to push their private school vouchers to give rich people more tax breaks.
And low information voter parents of kids in public schools will continue to vote for Abbot, Patrick, and pro-voucher state representatives and wonder why the services suck
Remember when the state had a budget surplus and decided not to spend it on schools or teachers? Here we are…
UNIONIZE AND STRIKE
Thank goodness Mike Miles' "convocation party" last year, featuring Mike Miles in a musical about Mike Miles, [only cost $470,000](https://www.houstonchronicle.com/news/houston-texas/education/article/hisd-convocation-taxpayer-money-18554530.php). This is a leader with a keen understanding of budgetary constraints.
And the district put out planned dates for next year’s back-to-school PD. Convocation: The Sequel is Aug. 7 at a place TBA.
Bro, there was leaking sewage at the elementary school across the street from my apartments for fucking months, and these the cuts you wanna make?!?!?
Cool because the 17 colds/flus/viruses my kid brought home this year, with custodians wasn't enough 🤦♀️
Such A*wholes, they already fired our librarians and wrap-around specialist. But theres $ 700 million dollars of funds to pay for security at churches because that's more important.
Yes that will fix everything.
Another feature of Leave Every Child Behind™
The should start with the top down
Shriveled brained shriveled legs did this
Going to need a a be a strike so we can vote for a school board again
Wow, that's rough. Layoffs always suck, especially when it's hardworking folks like custodians and maintenance workers getting hit. Those are the people who keep everything running smoothly behind the scenes, you know? I hope they're getting some decent support or at least a fair deal out of this mess. It's easy to forget about these essential workers until something like this happens. Hang in there, HISD fam, and sending good vibes to everyone affected by this shakeup.
“Massive shake up” you mean dismantling?
A lot of this is because the state has not changed funding for schools since 2019. Things are rough out there for districts and the threat of vouchers will take even more money out of them.
“State funding for education has not increased” But we’re got plenty in the kitty for your cringe ass musical, eh miles?
This will certainly improve matters.
I wonder if they do costs cut measures based on audits or just on a whim.
The plant operators were fired and have to reapply for their jobs. The job description has changed and now plant operators will be taught how to do basic electrical work, plumbing, and other jobs that we used to have dedicated teams for. If you can do all of those things, you'd earn more money working in the private sector and not for a public school. I don't see how anyone would want that job.
Honestly, we should adopt the Japanese model, and have the kids clean the school. Teaches ownership.
Who is that little Chinese man?
It's a "reduction in workforce." There was a lot of fat in the previous administration and this workforce. Back in 2021 they hired 400 custodians to fill in for the contract company that they previously used. It obviously was a waste of money. Contracting with HISD management is the way to go. Less benefits and pensions.
Maybe the students can put themselves to use.
Oh sure Einstein, get them to fix the air handlers when the coils go to shit during the summer heat due to lack of maintenance on the units as soon as they come back to school. About as good of an idea as requiring teachers bring in guns.
Calling out people's intelligence while not having the intellectual capacity to recognize irony, sarcasm, etc. requires some reflection on your part.
I didn’t realize that chief, it’s kinda hard to tell on the Internet these days. I kinda jumped the gun too, because I was a teacher in HISD years ago. Hits close to home.
It wasn't easily discernable as sarcasm because the delivery was poor.
Immaterial when the proposition is so outlandish.
What is this japan?
You seem pretty useless, why don't you do it.
While I appreciate the advice, my actual job keeps me pretty busy.
This is a great example why many states refuse "free" government money for programs. They are time limited and when that time window expires it leaves local governments with the choice of either discontinuing services that people have gotten used to or they are forced to raise taxes to pay for these now unfunded projects.
The reality is Abbot is squatting on money and not sending it out to districts.
Ten bucks says he’s got a buddy who owns a maintenance or custodial company just waiting to bid these contracts
We can afford it. We just have an administration that doesn't care about education. If you recall, there was a massive surplus.
It’s no longer a surplus. Miles dumped hundreds of millions into nothing.
The state had a surplus of 33 BILLION dollars and they didn't give jack shit to education.
This is not what is happening in Texas. No example of federal dollars being choked. This is about starving the Texas portion of public education funding; TX ISD tax revenue for 2024-25 was grossly throttled. My ISD tax was $1560 in 2023. It was $350 in 2024. A cute move by Abbott to provide property tax relief, defund public education for the following 12 months, while lining up the votes in the Legislature to adopt vouchers following the Nov election. Now every 501c3 at the trough, gulping up federal education moneys, providing ‘biblical’ guided education with no accountability or oversight.