Mercedes Schneider summarizes the checkered career of Mike Miles, who was put in charge of the Houston Independent School District by State Commissioner Mike Morath, who was appointed by hard-right Republican Governor Greg Abbott. Abbott wants to punish Houston for not voting for him. What better punishment than to install Mike Miles as superintendent?
Schneider writes:
In June 2023, the Houston Independent School District (HISD) became the latest major school district to experience a top-down, ed-reform tactic that largely ignores community investment and fail to deliver on promised academic gains: the state takeover of a school district.
On June 01, 2023, the Texas Education Agency (TEA) appointed Mike Miles as the new HISD superintendent.
Miles is the golden-child product of market-based, ed-reform leadership. As reported in his LinkedIn bio, Miles holds no college degrees in teaching (engineering; slavic languages and literature; international affairs and policy). He has never been a classroom teacher, never a site-based administrator, yet he was a district superintendent in Colorado for six years (2006-11) and superintendent of Dallas ISD for three.
Though he does not mention it in his LinkedIn bio, Miles was a member of the Class of 2011 at the Broad Superintendents Academy A 2011 EdWeek article on Broad superintendents includes the criticism that they “use corporate-management techniques to consolidate power, weaken teachers’ job protections, cut parents out of decisionmaking, and introduce unproven reform measures.”
Indeed.
In 2015, Miles abruptly resigned from Dallas ISD amid being, as WFAA.com states, “at the center of controversy since he took the position nearly three years ago,” which apparently included questions about misdirecting funding intended for at-risk students and the subsequent exit of the Dallas ISD budget director. (Also calling Miles “a lightening rod for controversy,” WFAA.com offers this timeline of Miles’ unsettling tenure in Dallas.)
Despite all of his Dallas ISD controversy, TEA– which is no stranger to stepping into its own controversy— chose to hire Miles to lead its newly-state-snatched HISD.
Following his Dallas ISD exit, in 2016, he founded a charter school chain, Third Future Schools, which has locations in Colorado, Texas, and Louisiana. For two years (2017-19), Miles was a senior associate in an education consulting firm, FourPoint Education Partners.
And according to his LinkedIn bio, Miles is/was on a number of ed-reform organization boards, including Teach for America (TFA) Colorado (2017-20); National Council on Teacher Quality (NCTQ) (2013-present), and Chiefs for Change (2015-present).
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Diane Ravitch's blog 
State takeovers are democracy crushing power plays that are often used against communities of color. Appointed boards only answer to the governor or in some cases a mayor of a minority majority city. These appointed goons do not answer to the people they serve. Miles has been brought in to implement a hostile takeover which is usually a precursor to more privatization which often starts as a trickle and ends in a flood of public funds flowing into private pockets.
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Whoa…Mike Miles is just another
rePUG-nI-CON GRIFTER to the MAX! Seems the GOP has made “GRIFTING” a SPORT.
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The last line,”Teach for America (TFA) Colorado (2017-20); National Council on Teacher Quality (NCTQ) (2013-present), and Chiefs for Change (2015-present).”, says all needs to be said about this individual. The Chiefs of Change, Jeb Bush invention to destroy public schools, is a perfect example of why Miles should have never even considered for the position of Superintendent in any school district in this country.
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While state takeovers are
democracy myth crushers,
the demo-dog-whistle,
is still in play.
The appointed cabal reigns
beyond the will and vote
of “we the people”, yet
the democracy brush is
in full swing.
What happens when the truth-
value of a proposition
(democracy) clashes
with reality?
If the truth-value of a
proposition is tied to
the identity of the
provider, trust in the
provider is linked as
well.
“I’m not upset that you lied
to me, I’m upset that from now
on I can’t believe you.” ―
Friedrich Nietzsche
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I’m a heartbroken retired Texas teacher. Rumors are they are coming
El Paso ISD. The new supe here just
mandated the same canned curriculum as was forced on HISD.
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That’s awful, Kathy.
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Makes me think of this, “What is really important in the world of doublespeak is the ability to lie, whether knowingly or unconsciously, and to get away with it; and the ability to use lies and choose and shape facts selectively, blocking out those that don’t fit an agenda or program.[10]”
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