HOUSTON, Texas — Houston ISD Superintendent Mike Miles said he's adding more schools to his New Education System (NES) model, but not everyone is on board.
Miles said 40 schools will be a part of the NES model next school year, bringing the total number of NES schools to 125.
"It's a good thing to be in NES,” said Miles during a news conference on Tuesday.
Schools being added to the list got either an “F” or “D” in ratings determined internally using state data.
"Unfortunately, I don’t think Mr. Miles is analyzing the data correctly,” said Houston Federation of Teachers President Jackie Anderson.
Anderson said it’s the same data some districts sued the state over, and that the jury’s still out on NES effectiveness.
During a one-on-one interview ahead of Tuesday's news conference, Miles said that testing already shows achievement rising at NES schools and discipline issues are decreasing. He added that he would never make some detractors satisfied no matter what.
"We’re going to keep moving," said Miles. "Let the haters hate.”
"He would say let the haters hate," said Anderson. "Because he doesn’t care about anybody other than himself and what he wants to do.”
Wesley ES Principal Joshua Dawson admitted that he wasn't completely sure about NES, but after he studied things further, he said he was excited about the possibility.
“I want to see my scholars make it and I want to see that they have a high-quality instructor in their classroom every single day," said Dawson. "And I want to build that culture of excellence.”
Miles said, once again, that he deserves to be fired if academic achievement doesn't improve under his leadership.