Carranza changes his tune
The Houston superintendent who sought to connect with the district’s Latino majority through his love of mariachi music is taking his song to a new city before he even finishes his first verse here.
It’s unclear whether Houstonians should wail at his abrupt departure or let out a joyful grito.
Without question, Houston ISD Superintendent Richard Carranza had charisma on the job, and energy, and a disarming approach that seemed to bolster morale in the district and endear him with parents and students.
But in the end, his song lacked substance. In his brief 18 months in Houston, he took his time fashioning a vision for the district, and when he did propose plans, they resembled a dramatic, cacophonous jumble of notes rather than a wellorchestrated composition.
Carranza, with substantial backing from the board, announced a catastrophic budget deficit of $208 million that would require painful cuts, in addition to an overhaul of the district governing and budgeting model, and a reimagining of the most sacred of HISD cows: the system of specialty schools known as magnets.
Then, after weeks of anger, anxiety and confusion over the proposed changes, the district did an about-face and changed its calculations to reduce the projected deficit to $115 million, prompting questions about the credibility and competence of district leadership.
Still, as recently as last Wednesday, I sat at a table with Carranza and board President Rhonda Skillern-Jones, who both assured me that HISD is still in crisis, that the sky is still falling, and that major changes were still needed to address systemic problems of inequity.
“I can’t sleep at night,” Carranza told me last week, explaining how he walks schools every week and was troubled by disparities between schools that can’t afford the basics — a nurse, for instance — and those that can afford more than a dozen assistant principals.
He seemed sincere, just as he had in his recent State of the Schools address when he vowed a commitment to equity and educating “the whole child,” despite the challenges wrought by Hurricane Harvey or chronic underfunding from the state legislature. Carranza talked of the future, of goals, of developing a 20-year capital campaign.
He stood up for immigrant students known as Dreamers, saying “as long as I’m your superintendent and as long as you’re a student of the Houston Independent School District, we will do anything we need to make sure you have all the opportunities to be successful.”
All the while, Carranza was talking to New York City’s mayor about a new gig. In one of his first meetings with Bill de Blasio, and his wife, Chirlane McCray, the New York Times reports that Carranza serenaded them with a mariachi song, “Maria Elena.”
Now, there’s a lot of turnover in the education world, especially among superintendents. Carranza has said leading the country’s largest public school system was an offer he couldn’t refuse. And board members said in a press conference Tuesday that they wish him well. Carranza shouldn’t be vilified for his decision.
But the fact is that his abrupt departure creates another trust issue for HISD. Carranza asked HISD parents, students, and community members to trust him in implementing drastic reforms that would affect the future of Houston for years to come. Yet, he knew he probably wouldn’t be around to see those changes through.
No one expects a superintendent to stay 10 years. But we thought he’d invest more than 18 months. We didn’t expect him to leave when the district needs a leader most.
Perhaps that was naïve. Perhaps the most surprising thing about Carranza’s sudden exit is that we find it surprising at all.
Amid the gasps and dropped jaws are insiders who say they didn’t expect Carranza to stick around for much longer, given all the obstacles he faced. In addition to the deficit and the threat of a state takeover of chronically low-performing schools, Carranza had a school board made up of single-district members, some prone to drama and racial politics. And he had state leaders such as Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick intent on starving public schools to death.
When the going got tough, Carranza got going. Literally.
Can we blame him? Sure. But there are more important things to do.
Those include identifying, promptly, someone with the competency to take the wheel while a permanent replacement is decided. Skillern-Jones, the board president, said she and other members will begin that process Thursday.
Somewhere, there is someone who wants this job despite all the challenges. There’s someone who is willing to invest the heart, the time, and maybe even put down roots, to improve education for the betterment of our children and our future.
Somewhere, there’s got to be someone who can do for HISD what Renu Khator has done as president of the University of Houston. She’s not only a skilled administrator, she’s savvy enough to navigate tough politics without getting ensnared by them.
Yes, she brought charisma and vision, but she also brought the commitment to see that vision through.
At Tuesday’s press conference, board members stood alongside Mayor Sylvester Turner, state Rep. Alma Allen, and Congresswoman Sheila Jackson Lee — all vowing to stand in unity to do what’s best for HISD students.
Turner’s presence was particularly reassuring, as he sought to rally Houston’s can-do spirit while imploring us to remember the kids.
Right now, those kids, all 214,000 of them, need reassurance that life will go on, that the district won’t spiral into chaos, and that, somewhere, there’s a new leader who will stay long enough to lead.