HOUSTON — Concerns are growing over a sexually graphic reading lesson that nearly went out to Houston Independent School District middle schoolers.
A concerned parent and activist sent the passage to KHOU 11 News and we went to HISD for answers.
"Excerpting a passage from a Maya Angelou book, and listen, I’m all for kids reading great literature, but the content from this scene doesn’t seem appropriate for an 8th-grade ELA (English Language Arts) class. That’s actually a subject I used to teach. It’s a passage that describes -- pretty graphically -- an older man coercing a young girl into having sex with him," activist Sim Kern said.
It seems to be pretty clear why teachers sounded the alarm over the lesson.
Kern has two children who go to HISD schools, but that's not how they found out about it.
"It was sent to me because I have been talking a lot about the HISD takeover on my TikTok channel. Actually, a lot of teachers have been reaching out to me concerning lesson plans," Kern said.
Superintendent Mike Miles acknowledged that the lesson didn't meet HISD standards. He issued this statement:
"Let me begin by assuring parents and families that the curriculum and lessons given to our students will be age-appropriate and meet the high standards that I set when I was appointed in June. The issue with the 8th grade curriculum was discovered, corrected, and all campuses have been directed to ensure the right lessons are shared with children tomorrow.
"While this issue was identified and corrected before it impacted students or instruction, this does not meet the standards I set for the HISD team, and it does not meet the commitment we made to our educators and students. I have directed the Chief Academic Officer to review all the systems and processes related to curriculum creation to ensure that inappropriate content never gets to classrooms.
"In addition, I have already begun taking steps to strengthen our curriculum development and review processes. We are paying a team of HISD teacher-experts from each grade level and content area to review curriculum half-time. They will make our lessons better and I’m grateful they will be joining the team. Next, we will be reaching out to engage our teachers district-wide and in our divisions to get feedback on the curricular resources we provide. This will help us strengthen lessons, catch errors more quickly so teachers don’t have to, and give teachers the support we promised them."
The statement didn't ease Kern's concerns.
"This is not the first passage 8th-grade English Language Arts teachers have seen that they’ve had concerns about," Kern said.
Kern is not hiding opposition to the Texas Education Agency's takeover of the district but said the teachers/experts are that are reviewing the curriculum should be identified.
HISD issued this additional statement:
"As the Superintendent indicated yesterday, no students received the reading passages that were inappropriately included in one of the 8th grade English Language Arts lesson plans for the week.
"Those lesson plans were replaced with rigorous, age-appropriate content.
"The Academics team continues to review the development of these lesson plans but at this time we believe the inappropriate passages were due to isolated human error. The curriculum team will continue to meet throughout the week to align on expectations and quality control for lesson plans moving forward.
"Additionally, the Superintendent continues to engage more teachers as curriculum reviewers We have already hired 25 of the 32 teachers (these are HISD teachers who teach half-time and work on curriculum half-time) needed to review each grade level and subject area. In October, we are launching opportunities for teachers in each division to partner with district leaders and provide feedback to make our curriculum stronger."