Mike Miles is a source of unending chutzpah. Not only did he win approval to hire uncertified teachers and principals, not only is he turning libraries into detention centers, but now he wants the HISD board to allow him to spend up to $2 million without prior approval by the board. This is outrageous. The current limit is $100,000.
Megan Menchacha of The Houston Chronicle reports:
The Houston ISD administration is seeking to increase the minimum purchasing threshold that requires board approval by twentyfold.
Under current policy, any district purchase of at least $100,000 requires approval from the school board. Superintendent Mike Miles asked during the board’s work session meeting Thursday to increase the limit to $2 million so the district can be faster and more efficient with its purchases.
The board will vote on whether to adopt the changes to the policy during its regular meeting Thursday….
Mindy Wilson, a parent of two HISD students, urged the board not to adopt the item, calling the request “unheard of and obscene.” She cited larger school districts with lower limits that require board approval, including the Los Angeles Unified School District and Chicago Public Schools.
“Do you see how egregious this is for HISD stakeholders and taxpayers?” Wilson said. “How is this even allowed to happen? This is even shameful on a national level. Just think about how it’s gonna hurt HISD as years go on and other superintendents and people have this kind of power over our tax dollars. … We demand transparency for every policy and dollar spent in HISD.”
The Los Angeles Unified School District has about 420,000 students, and the board must approve purchases over $250,000. In Chicago, the school district has around 322,100 students, and the board must approve purchases above $500,000.
Miles said those two districts were too slow, bureaucratic and failing to achieve student achievement results. He said he proposed a $2 million threshold for HISD after a meeting with his finance team
“They’re less effective and less efficient. Chicago and L.A., they’re not getting it done,” Miles said. “They have a very bureaucratic, cumbersome process to do anything because it’s very political there, and politics run all these vendor contracts.”
We will soon learn whether the HISD board is a puppet board.
Diane Ravitch's blog 
The woods are lovely, dark, and deep,
But HISD has promises to keep,
And Miles must go before we sleep
Mike Miles must go before we sleep.
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Excellent. You and SD should have a poem-off.
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I rhyme at times, so it seems I’m a poet although I’d never know it, but Some DevalueAddedMethod Poet is the blog poetry originator, the idea percolator and ventilator, the public educational particle accelerator, the BillyBoy Gates terminator.. I wouldn’t even try to compete.
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Twisted minds think alike
But I like your “Miles must go” ending better
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I saw and enjoyed your version, but I couldn’t remember which post it was to reread and make sure I wasn’t “plagiarizing”. Glad I wasn’t biting on your rhymes, as they say in hip hop.
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“Plagiarism is the sincerest form of pilfery”
The bots are quite sincere
They like to plagiarize
They steal without a peer
And charge us for the prize
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The product of collaboration is always better than that of competition.
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Collaboration but no collusion”
Two minds trump the one
And three will trump the two
And one will trump the none
But none will trump Trump too
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No Collusion”
No collusion
Not with Putin
Vladimir
Was never here
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School boards are supposed to be stewards of the public trust. Accountability measures are in place to ensure that all transactions are legitimate and serve the needs of the school district. Like most members on the right Miles does believes he is above accountability, particularly since he is an impatient Broadie trying to do a “smash and grab” on the largest school district in the state.
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Any guesses as to whom he wishes to pay large sums of money and for what? My money is on some education deform company, but who am I to say…
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Miles didn’t say why he needs the authority to spend $2 million without board approval. It’s not customary.
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I have a friend with a doctorate in public policy whose child I taught and who works in an education research and consulting firm. We never discuss her business, but she did tell me her firm has a contract with HISD. My friend could not talk about it. I don’t even know who this person works for, that’s how little we talk about it. I’m trying to connect the dots with what little info. I have. Perhaps their fee is high enough to warrant this spending threshold. Just a thought.
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LG,
I hope your friend doesn’t work for Alvarez & Marsal, a major management consulting firm that has worked for districts in distress, eg, New Orleans and St. Louis. They ran up huge bills and left the district in a state of chaos, despair, or both. They were paid to reorganize the NYC school bus routes ($15 million contract), and it was a mess.
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How dreadful. I don’t recall hearing about those projects from my friend, but again, we don’t discuss work. From my understanding, there is a modicum of integrity within this company or else the individual would not work for them. I suppose we will find out more about the project if it is disclosed publicly.
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You can’t be too careful.
One must consider the possibility that he wants to be able to pocket the money and disappear to South America.
Seriously, what legitimate reason could anyone have for needing immediate access to 2 million dollars without approval?
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SDP, you are onto something here.
“Seriously, what legitimate reason could anyone have for needing immediate access to 2 million dollars without approval?”
The possibilities are limited.
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Where did that number (2 million) even come from?
Why would someone propose a number that is 20 times the current limit if they had no inkling what they might need that much money on short notice for?
And if Miles does have a legitimate reason in mind it certainly behooves him to spell out the precise situation where it would be necessary.
Barring such a detailed description, this school board would be insane to OK such a transaction.
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Broadie John Deasy’s last act as LAUSD superintendent before he was fired was to use district funds to buy himself airfare and accommodations for a trip to South Korea. The goal, the very purpose of a Broadie is to bankrupt the public school district that made the deadly mistake of hiring him. So Miles will spend as much money as he can on anything that does not help Houston, Texas. He will throw every cent of those $2 million out the window. I’m sure he’s less concerned about what he wants to buy than how much he wants to spend.
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Sorry, Deasy went to Korea not before but after he was fired. It was after he was fired but before he left.
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Deasy seems to have slunk off like Randal in Monsters Inc
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For sale: $2 million shoes, never worn.
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Might not be that far off.
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