HISD must continue the work that Carranza started

At the HISD Hispanic Advisory Committee Meeting in mid-February, Superintendent Richard Carranza spoke in a way I had never heard him speak before. There was a fire in his voice, and with a look that was full of emotion, he told the assembled members that he was kept up at night worried about how one third grader’s experience was completely different from that of another third grader across town.

He talked about equity and our failures, excellence and responsibility, and the drive to make decisions that may be difficult politically, but that were necessary so that all students in the Houston Independent School District excelled.

Earlier this week the leader who pleaded so passionately for equity announced he was leaving the district, and we are reeling. He had given us hope that for the first time in a long time we could disrupt a well-entrenched status quo. However, with the Texas Education Agency threatening takeover or school closures, a $115 million budget deficit, Hurricane Harvey recovery, decreasing enrollment and so much more, we have no time to wallow. We must thank Carranza for his leadership, wish him well on his new endeavor, and get back to the important issues shaping our district.

In April we begin state-required STAAR testing that will determine whether our schools meet state-mandated standards and avoid consequences that could include a state takeover. April 30 is the TEA deadline for proposed school partnerships that may give us a two year waiver on accountability standards, and spare us the TEA’s consequences.

We also have a $115 million budget deficit to work through that has been the lightning rod for controversy in the community.

However, our hope in the superintendent was based not only on what he could do with those pressing issues, but on what he was willing to do to disrupt a status quo for that for too long was inequitable and failed to serve all of our students.

Carranza and his administration were evaluating what the best funding mechanism was for a district like ours. We were finally talking about increasing the availability of magnet opportunities across the district. A committee had been assembled to discuss the gifted and talented identification system that years ago was found to be patently inequitable.

These were all issues that had been tabled time and time again, and many of us were hopeful that real change could be made on those fronts. Our loss of a leader on this front must not deter us from continuing to evaluate these, and all issues that influence the quality of an education received in HISD.

Before Carranza’s announcement, we were seeing promise in our school board’s ability to work together for change. We were having difficult discussions in PTA meetings and town halls about goals and funding. Parents were paying attention, researching, asking questions, giving input, and thinking about these issues in a way we hadn’t seen in a long time. We didn’t agree on the kind of change that was necessary, but we were there, paying attention and working together in a new way for all kids in HISD.

Our district needs us, every one of us, to continue that focus and enthusiasm if we are going to move forward.

Our success as a district is not dependent on one man.

It is dependent on our ability to craft a shared vision and goals about what we want our schools to be.

It is dependent on our ability to look beyond the experiences of our own children and take responsibility for the education of all HISD students.

And it is dependent on our ability to talk about these issues in a way that is productive and in which everyone feels heard. Let’s continue to move forward on all fronts at HISD. Our future depends on it.