Miles on Destination 2035 initiative: 'We have to work differently'

The Houston Independent School District (HISD) Board of Managers held its third meeting since the Texas Education Agency (TEA) takeover on Thursday in which it unanimously approved Superintendent Mike Miles’ $2.2 billion budget for the 2023-2024 academic year, according to reports from Houston-based media outlets.

The meeting – just like the previous two – was held amidst visible frustration from members of the public opposed to state intervention who gathered at the HISD’s headquarters, most brandishing red placards imprinted with the thumbs down gesture.

A major Houston publication reported that the budget bears a lot of similarities to the one proposed by Miles’ predecessor, Millard House II, with the exception being the latest calls for approximately $100 billion in cuts.

Per the report, the funds that result from the cuts will go toward the newly implemented New Education System.

Miles was reportedly absent for a chunk of the meeting, but was present to discuss his Destination 2035 initiative which he hopes would help black and Hispanic students reach their full potential while preparing them for a workforce likely rife with radical changes 12 years from now.

"We have to work differently," the superintendent said in the report. "HISD cannot improve the system, has no chance of improving or changing that data, getting kids to read or preparing them for the year 2035, if we keep doing the same thing."

Appointed by the TEA to lead the state’s largest public school district on June 1, Miles said he plans outreach events in which he’ll attempt to better explain the changes to the public, with the first of such slated for June 26 at Forest Brook Middle School at 7525 Tidwell Rd., Houston ABC affiliate KTRK reported.

Houston CBS affiliate KHOU reported that while the meeting wasn’t as heated as the others before, community members still expressed their anger and disappointment toward Miles, the former superintendent of the Dallas Independent School District (DISD).

"Our elected board members would never allow any superintendent to miss public comment," an HISD teacher said, according to the station.

Another attendee demanded Miles and the board not patronize the community, KHOU reported.

KTRK reported that a fourth grader asserted test scores don’t define them and their friends.

“My friends and I like learning cool facts, collaborating on projects and sharing what we researched on Google slides or posters," the student said in the report.