CASE Report: Chronicle Confirms HISD’s Gains Are Real

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Chronicle: HISD’s Gains Are Real

Since the HISD intervention began, there has been a steady drumbeat of good news coming out of the district regarding student achievement.

First, we hear that mid-year NWEA-MAP scores were up. Then, we saw big gains in STAAR scores. After that, the end-of-year NWEA-MAP scores continued to show major progress. Now, HISD’s recently self-reported A-F accountability scores are out, and they’re through the roof.

Given that the district had been severely underperforming prior to the intervention, some community members and unions have expressed skepticism that HISD’s numbers are real.

As activist Carmen Nuncio said, “He has said [he’s brought the scores up]. That’s not true.”

The Houston Chronicle’s editorial board decided to take a closer look to find the truth: “So can we trust [HISD]? Short answer: yes.”

The full piece can be found here.

Go deeper: Here are a few of the debunked claims:

Why it matters: HISD’s turnaround is one of the biggest stories in Houston right now, and it is important that the public gets accurate, unbiased information on what’s going on in the district. With this editorial, the Chronicle corrects several common, misleading statements from HISD opponents.

Community Mulls Bond at Town Hall

Congresswoman Sylvia Garcia hosted a town hall in her district on Tuesday night to discuss the HISD bond. The panel was evenly divided with two supporters of the bond (Dani Hernandez, HISD Elected Trustee and Glen Austin, Greater Houston Partnership) and two opposers (Ruth Kravetz, Community Voices for Public Education and Carmen Nuncio, activist and parent).

The panelists made their cases for and against the bond before fielding questions from the community.

Highlights:

Fox 26’s story is here.

Why it matters: At a time when many people are doing their homework on the items on the November ballot, this Town Hall provided the HISD community the chance to hear different perspectives on the bond and get information on the details of the proposals.

By the numbers: The district’s school bond will be split into two propositions on the November ballot: Proposition A would allocate $3.96 billion for school building renovations and expansions, including safety and security infrastructure, while Proposition B would allocate $440 million for technology equipment, systems and infrastructure.

What they’re saying:"There's a simple solution, and that's the bond. At the end of the day, this is about the students. We always think of students first," said Glen Austin, Greater Houston Partnership’s director of education policy.

What’s next: Houston residents who are not already registered to vote will need to do so by Oct. 7 to vote on the bond, as well as the other items on the ballot in the general election. Eligible Houstonians must request or print out a registration application and mail it to the voter registrar before the deadline.

Studies Signal Bond Support

Two different studies released this week offered a picture into public sentiment on the HISD bond proposal.

An August poll by the Kinder Institute for Urban Research showed that over 75% of HISD residents are supportive of a bond that would not raise property taxes. Since the HISD bond does not raise property taxes, this result is a strong indication that the HISD voters will support the bond on election day.

Days after the Kinder poll was released, the local teacher union, which is vocally opposed to the HISD bond, released its own study. In the union study , participants were asked if they would support a property tax increase to fund an HISD bond. Since the HISD bond does not increase property taxes, this question is not an accurate measure of public sentiment on the HISD bond.

Even with the inaccurate question, the poll showed that 51% of voters would support or consider supporting an HISD bond even if it resulted in a property tax increase.

Check out Houston Landing’s full story is here.

Why it matters: It is a positive sign for the HISD bond that even a misleading, biased poll shows that a majority of voters support or would consider supporting the bond.

Go deeper: On the ballot, the HISD bond proposals will include the language “THIS IS A PROPERTY TAX INCREASE”, although this statement is inaccurate. A 2019 law now requires the inclusion of this language on any bond proposal in Texas, regardless of whether it is a true statement. The HISD bond does not raise property taxes, as explained here.

More details: The Kinder poll also asked HISD voters about the priorities they would like to see HISD spend their bond funds on, with more than half of respondents saying the district’s top priorities should be creating career and technical education facilities and installing updated safety and security measures in schools.

What they’re saying: The survey found, “Support was high [for HISD] regardless of whether HISD residents own a home, have school-aged children, or are registered to vote.”

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