New HISD Superintendent Mike Miles met with icy reception at first board meeting for district
HOUSTON, Texas (KTRK) -- The Houston Independent School District officially has a new administration in charge.
The first meeting since Texas Education Agency Commissioner Mike Morath appointed a new superintendent and board of managers to the district was interrupted multiple times by protestors.
It's easy to miss in the chaos, but the board did approve an interim contract for Mike Miles.
RELATED: HISD teachers' pay based on student performance among changes from new superintendent
Miles will be paid $1,473 daily as HISD's superintendent and will receive $25,000 to cover relocation expenses.
The contract is supposed to eventually line up with former superintendent Millard House II's salary of $360,000.
The new board also voted to suspend public meeting requirements for now, angering those protesting for transparency.
And, to add to the spectacle, at least two former HISD trustees who have been stripped of their power attended the meeting.
Elizabeth Santos was at the meeting as a protestor while the opponent she defeated in the last board election sat on the dais, appointed by the TEA to serve Houston.
RELATED: New HISD superintendent to seek waiver from TEA due to inactive state certification
"We worked so hard to stand up for teachers and our students, and this is how democracy ends," Santos said.
Parents and teachers from Dallas Independent School District were also in the crowd of nearly 200 people.
Miles was superintendent in Dallas, the state's second-largest district, from 2012 until he resigned in 2015 after a contract dispute.
"Achievement did not go up. The practices that were put into place, we did not see them as really effective in changing," Rena Honea, the president of Dallas ISD's teacher's union, said. "What we did see during that time is a mass exodus of our veteran educators."
According to TEA data, overall school performance at Dallas ISD decreased slightly during Miles' time there.
In 2013, the district was given an 89% performance rating.
It went up to 94% in 2014, then down to 85% in 2015.
"I was disappointed to know the same things I assume that happened in Dallas will probably take place in Houston," Honea said. "We're the only district in Texas that has this pay-for-performance plan. History shows in education, pay for performance is not effective."
RELATED: HISD educators can expect salary changes next year, factors tied to school performance
Since arriving in Houston, Miles has already instituted several new polices, targeting traditionally low performing schools and tying both principal and teacher pay to student performance.
"They have a board of managers that they had no part in selecting, electing, anything," Honea added. "At least in Dallas, we did have a board of elected trustees."
One of the elected trustees Miles worked with in Dallas might be recognizable to some.
TEA Commissioner Mike Morath sat on the board for all three years of Miles' tenure.
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