Tag Archives: HFT

“District of innovation”

Posted on September 9, 2023 by Charles Kuffner

We’ll see what this means. Houston ISD’s state-appointed school board unanimously voted Thursday to begin the process of becoming a “District of Innovation,” a move that could ultimately allow the district to extend the school year for students and teachers. … Continue reading →

Posted in School days | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

HISD temporarily blocked from using new teacher evaluation system

Posted on September 1, 2023 by Charles Kuffner

This all came up this week. Houston ISD will not be allowed to implement its new teacher evaluation system until mid-September at the earliest after a judge temporarily blocked the policy Thursday morning. A Harris County judge issued a temporary … Continue reading →

Posted in Legal matters, School days | Tagged , , , , , , , , | Comments Off on HISD temporarily blocked from using new teacher evaluation system

Why does Mike Miles want classroom doors open?

Posted on August 27, 2023 by Charles Kuffner

I don’t know. That seems to be a regular thing. Only a fence with holes and rotting wood planks stands between the back side of Coop Elementary School and the outside world. Last year, a man tried to scale it … Continue reading →

Posted in School days | Tagged , , , , , , | 1 Comment

This is what I mean by building trust

Posted on July 22, 2023 by Charles Kuffner

Not great, HISD. Some Houston ISD teachers at schools in Superintendent Mike Miles’ New Education System were upset Monday morning to wake up to contract offers with lower salaries than what they expected and, in some cases, lower than what they earned before. … Continue reading →

Posted in School days | Tagged , , , , , , , , | Comments Off on This is what I mean by building trust

Miles picks a team

Posted on June 8, 2023 by Charles Kuffner

He keeps moving, I’m trying to keep up. Newly appointed Houston ISD Superintendent Mike Miles‘ first cabinet selections include a mix of HISD staff members, former employees of his charter school network, administrators from across Texas and educational analysts. Miles’ … Continue reading →

Posted in School days | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 19 Comments

Don’t forget the teachers

Posted on March 24, 2023 by Charles Kuffner

I hope the Board of Managers has a plan for this. Teachers had been shuffling in and out of Traci Latson’s classroom all day the first day back from spring break, trying to make sense of the news that broke … Continue reading →

Posted in School days | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

HISD warns of “consequences” for not complying with their mask mandate

Posted on August 18, 2021 by Charles Kuffner

Consequences are, well, a natural consequence of non-compliance. Houston ISD students and employees who refuse to wear masks when the school year begins could face discipline and be forced to temporarily learn online under new guidelines released by the district. … Continue reading →

Posted in School days | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 6 Comments

Dragging Dutton

Posted on May 14, 2021 by Charles Kuffner

Richly deserved. Houston area political action groups, activists, and unions gathered outside the office of Democratic state Rep. Harold Dutton Jr. on Tuesday to call for his resignation. “It’s better if he goes now than in the next election,” said … Continue reading →

Posted in Election 2022 | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

HISD attempt to stop TEA takeover denied

Posted on December 20, 2019 by Charles Kuffner

Possibly only a temporary setback, however. A federal judge on Wednesday denied Houston ISD’s request for a preliminary injunction and dismissed its lawsuit aimed at stopping the Texas Education Agency from replacing the district’s elected board, delivering a temporary victory … Continue reading →

Posted in Legal matters | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

HFT may join lawsuit to block TEA takeover

Posted on November 19, 2019 by Charles Kuffner

That’s a lot of acronyms, so just read this. Houston ISD’s largest teachers union is considering whether to join a lawsuit filed by the district’s school board that aims to stop the expected ouster of elected trustees by the Texas … Continue reading →

Posted in Legal matters, School days | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | Comments Off on HFT may join lawsuit to block TEA takeover

Lawsuit filed over STAAR exams

Posted on May 25, 2016 by Charles Kuffner

Interesting. A backlash against this year’s STAAR exams escalated Monday when a group of parents sued the state in an attempt to keep schools from using 2016 test scores to rate students — including deciding whether students should advance to … Continue reading →

Posted in Legal matters, School days | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , | Comments Off on Lawsuit filed over STAAR exams

Lawsuits filed over teacher evaluations

Posted on April 22, 2016 by Charles Kuffner

This ought to be interesting. A statewide teachers group filed a lawsuit Wednesday in an attempt to block the state from implementing a controversial system that for the first time ties assessments of educators to student performance on standardized tests. … Continue reading →

Posted in Legal matters, School days | Tagged , , , , , , , , | Comments Off on Lawsuits filed over teacher evaluations

Makeup days

Posted on March 25, 2014 by Charles Kuffner

Sorry, kids. Houston area schools are facing possible cuts in state funding, and a bruising in the court of public opinion, by making up days missed earlier this year because of icy roads. With little fat built into the spring … Continue reading →

Posted in School days | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Two views of pensions

Posted on February 13, 2012 by Charles Kuffner

The Chron’s Sunday op-ed pages were filled with pension-related discussion. Here are the citizen members of the Long-Range Financial Management Task Force, fresh off of their report release, taking to the pages to lay out what the city wants from … Continue reading →

Posted in Local politics | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Teacher evaluations

Posted on November 29, 2011 by Charles Kuffner

HISD is gearing up to implement a new teacher evaluation system, but not without a fight first. The Houston Federation of Teachers has launched what is expected to be a protracted battle to void the new evaluation. It starts with … Continue reading →

Posted in School days | Tagged , , , , , , | Comments Off on Teacher evaluations

HISD adopts its budget

Posted on June 25, 2011 by Charles Kuffner

No tax increase, at least not at this time. Students in the Houston Independent School District can expect to see larger class sizes and fewer teachers, librarians and elective courses next year under the spending plan that trustees approved Thursday. … Continue reading →

Posted in School days | Tagged , , , , , , , , | Comments Off on HISD adopts its budget

CEP gets a good grade

Posted on June 4, 2010 by Charles Kuffner

As reported by Hair Balls, the Texas A&M consultant that was brought in by HISD and Superintendent Terry Grier to evaluate Community Education Partners (CEP), its provider for the disciplinary alternate education program, has now issued his long-awaited report. You … Continue reading →

Posted in School days | Tagged , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Stimulus fight

Posted on April 14, 2010 by Charles Kuffner

As we know, HISD is reducing its workforce, including teachers, due to budget shortfalls. The Houston Federation of Teachers says that this is happening while there are a lot of unspent stimulus funds. Houston Federation of Teachers leader Gayle Fallon … Continue reading →

Posted in School days | Tagged , , , , , | Comments Off on Stimulus fight

Everybody’s talking about Terry

Posted on April 8, 2010 by Charles Kuffner

HISD Superintendent Terry Grier, that is. A few things I’ve noticed lately: From Rick Casey: For all his controversies in previous districts, Grier earned a reputation for improving the performance of all children, but especially of low-income and minority children. … Continue reading →

Posted in School days | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 3 Comments

Interview with Gayle Fallon

Posted on March 29, 2010 by Charles Kuffner

As you know, I’ve been following the news in HISD lately, in particular the political struggle going on between new HISD Superintendent Terry Grier and the Houston Federation of Teachers, over things like the proposal to dump CEP as the … Continue reading →

Posted in School days | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 5 Comments

Fact check on Aisle 5, please

Posted on March 19, 2010 by Charles Kuffner

As we know, HISD Superintendent Terry Grier has proposed ending HISD’s relationship with Community Education Partners (CEP), which provides alternate schools for kids with discipline problems. Following that, the Chron editorialized in favor of Grier’s stance. Grier contends that CEP … Continue reading →

Posted in School days | Tagged , , , , , | 2 Comments

Grier pushing to dump CEP

Posted on March 10, 2010 by Charles Kuffner

As we know, HISD Superintendent Terry Grier has been pushing to get HISD away from using Community Education Partners (CEP) as a provider of alternate schools for kids with discipline issues. He has now made his recommendation to the Board … Continue reading →

Posted in School days | Tagged , , , , , | 6 Comments

HISD gives final approval to teacher dismissal plan

Posted on February 12, 2010 by Charles Kuffner

HISD Superintendent Terry Grier has gotten approval from the HISD Board of Trustees to implement a plan that would allow for the dismissal of teachers whose students don’t make enough progress on standardized tests. Data provided by HISD show that, … Continue reading →

Posted in School days | Tagged , , , , , , , | 5 Comments

HISD moves ahead with its teacher dismissal plan

Posted on January 16, 2010 by Charles Kuffner

Here we go. The school board on Thursday gave initial approval to a policy that allows the district to dismiss teachers whose students consistently perform below expectations on standardized tests. The change represents a move to make personnel decisions based … Continue reading →

Posted in School days | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 11 Comments

Evaluating teachers

Posted on January 13, 2010 by Charles Kuffner

This is sure to be contentious, but I think it’s the right direction. Teachers in Houston ISD could lose their jobs for failing to improve student test scores under a controversial proposal slated for a school board vote Thursday. HISD … Continue reading →

Posted in School days | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | 6 Comments

HISD Trustee runoff overview

Posted on December 4, 2009 by Charles Kuffner

Here’s the Chron story on the two runoffs for HISD Trustee. It echoes a theme from that Examiner story we saw yesterday. The outcome of the races could reshape several board debates — particularly over wages for construction workers, efforts … Continue reading →

Posted in Election 2009 | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , | 7 Comments

Meet the HISD Parent Visionaries

Posted on December 3, 2009 by Charles Kuffner

I’ve mentioned the group HISD Parent Visionaries a couple of times in this space. Here’s an article about them from the Examiner. Parent Visionaries was spawned after HISD’s former superintendent, Dr. Abelardo Saavedra, voiced an interest in eliminating or reducing … Continue reading →

Posted in Election 2009 | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | 8 Comments

HISD candidate spending

Posted on October 30, 2009 by Charles Kuffner

After all I’ve done detailing how city candidates are spending their campaign money, I’d love to be able to tell how how candidates for HISD Trustee are spending theirs. I’d love to, but unfortunately I can’t, because that information isn’t … Continue reading →

Posted in Election 2009 | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment