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Mike Miles, superintendent of Houston Independent School District, is shown during a tour of classrooms at the Kinder High School for the Performing and Visual Arts in Houston, Wednesday, May 14, 2025.<\/p>\n
Melissa Phillip\/Houston Chronicle<\/p>\n
Since the state takeover of Houston ISD in June 2023, the district’s structure and classroom instruction have shifted dramatically.<\/p>\n
New academic research is shedding light on the rationale behind those changes \u2014 and the language used by state-appointed Superintendent Mike Miles to describe them.<\/p>\n
In a Thursday presentation at Rice University, doctoral candidates from Pennsylvania State University, Rice and the University of Texas at Austin presented their ongoing research on the takeover based on more than 100 interviews. They explored the use of classrooms and lesson time, the reasoning supporting the takeover and its new policies, and educators’ deteriorating well-being.<\/p>\n
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“Superintendent Miles presumes that the teacher turnover is necessary to curate a qualified workforce, a sentiment that’s been echoed in other takeover actors, relying on neoliberal logic of maximizing human capital,” said Rice’s Jasmin Lee.<\/p>\n
A school district modeled after the military<\/p>\n
Daniel Dawer at UT-Austin examined Miles’ use of military imagery and terminology to reorganize Texas’ largest school district. He found that the “logic of occupation” was implemented in\u00a0HISD.<\/p>\n
Dawer explained that the goal of a military occupation is not to just run a territory, “but transform that territory’s cultural institutions and realign them so that they match up with the values and preferences of the occupying power.”<\/p>\n
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Miles, a former Army Ranger officer<\/a>, was “the key importer of the logic of occupation” into HISD, Dawer said.<\/p>\n AWARD: This Houston librarian won state librarian of the year, despite staffing changes, book bans<\/a><\/p>\n Dawer noted that Miles told the Houston Chronicle editorial board in 2023<\/a> that he borrowed organizational systems from the State Department and the military. Miles later reorganized the district into what he called a “unit concept,” dividing much of the central office into geographically defined divisions, each with an area chief. Miles also established a chain of command, which\u00a0linked the superintendent to campus principals.<\/p>\n HISD principals who attended\u00a0an early takeover meeting told Dawer that Miles invoked successful militaries when explaining how he would reorganize the district.<\/p>\n Dawer also cited a presentation Miles gave<\/a> in September 2023, which was full of military imagery, metaphors and concepts. It referenced\u00a0the commander’s intent, which requires subordinates in the field to align themselves with an operation’s purpose as determined by a commanding officer.<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n However, as one principal told\u00a0Dawer,\u00a0“the commander’s intent” ideology is at odds with school leadership principles. Another school leader said principals had to wait for orders to trickle down instead of acting with the autonomy they were used to.<\/p>\n OUTSIDE PARTNERSHIPS: Houston ISD board member questions Mike Miles’ vision for school autonomy<\/a><\/p>\n Meeting a ‘fixed’ future<\/p>\n Pennsylvania State University’s Corey\u00a0Brautigam found that under the takeover, teachers have lost their “discretionary spaces” \u2014 moments where a teacher can further students’ learning, care for their class or dive into a spontaneous chat that piques their curiosity.<\/p>\n In HISD, teachers used to have more control of their instruction time and classroom setup, like whether to close a door<\/a> or turn off fluorescent lights<\/a>.<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n To understand why teachers lost this autonomy,\u00a0Brautigam examined what he described as an “algorithmic logic.”<\/p>\n Citing examples of Miles’ presentations of his vision for\u00a0HISD, Brautigam observed how the superintendent used futuristic imagery, called the district’s plan “Destination 2035,” and depicted the future “radically different from the past or the present.”<\/p>\n IMMIGRATION: Texas GOP leaders silent on deportation of HISD student caught in Trump\u2019s immigration crackdown<\/a><\/p>\n Brautigam emphasized that Miles depicts the future as “fixed” and “imminent.”<\/p>\n “It’s already set,” Brautigam said. “2035 is determined, which positions the community, teachers, students as unable to act on the future. They are no longer dreamers, imaginers, visionaries. Instead, the best they can do is prepare for this future that is inevitably coming.”<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n Miles’ New Education System emphasizes efficiency, optimizes time on slides and creates pressure to keep lessons moving, Brautigam said.<\/p>\n “And it seems silly, but\u00a0I think this is an important assertion, that the\u00a0now-ness of now matters. That children, as children, matter. That the light in the classroom is important,” he said. “Not children as future adults. Not children as future workers. Not children as future producers of test scores.”<\/p>\n FUTURE 2 SCHOOLS: Mike Miles expands HISD’s ‘Future 2’ pilot program, eventually wants 100 AI-focused campuses<\/a><\/p>\n Declining educator well-being<\/p>\n Lee at Rice talked with educators about how the takeover has affected their well-being. Lee said that includes their personal health, years of experience, emotional intelligence, a teacher’s effectiveness, their connection to other educators and organizational culture.<\/p>\n Lee often brought tissues to interviews, which lasted two hours on average. One teacher, motioning to those tissues, told Lee that\u00a0HISD teachers are “suffering in silence.”<\/p>\n HEARING: Houston ISD teacher loses case after independent hearing officer sides with district<\/a><\/p>\n