Houston ISD, the behemoth of Texas education, is hemorrhaging students. The largest school district in Texas has watched its enrollment dwindle by roughly 6,000 pupils since the 2022-2023 academic year - a sobering continuation of a slide that's seen the loss of over 25,000 students since 2019-20, according to a Houston Chronicle analysis. HISD's downward trend in student headcount appears exacerbated by the state takeover and the divisive New Education System (NES). The NES, as implemented by Superintendent Mike Miles, pushes centrally crafted lessons, and frequent quizzes and has garnered complaints from parents and teachers.
The district's decision to expand the NES from 85 to 130 schools has sparked debate, with some families protesting the reforms. Parents like Liz Silva find the new system too rigid; "I think that it’s a little too militant," Silva told Houston Public Media. "I don’t think kids need to be taught and timed and tested after every subject ... you know, we’re worried that the kids aren’t going to have as much fun." This sentiment reflects growing concern among parents that the intrusive nature of NES could curb the district's already stumbling enrollment further.
Concerns aren't just rooted in curriculum and educational philosophy; dollars and cents are at play too. With each student that walks out the door, HISD loses vital funding from the state, which predicates its financial support on average daily attendance rates. K-12 education experts, such as Duncan Klussmann of the University of Houston, have even warned that continued declines could lead to school closures.
Meanwhile, Superintendent Miles remains steadfast in his support for the NES, focusing on long-term educational quality over immediate enrollment figures. "You're going to see over time that we're gonna run effective schools," Miles told the Chronicle. "We're gonna make education meaningful (by) getting ready for the year 2035, I think that's gonna bring up enrollment." However, with charter schools like YES Prep Public Schools and KIPP Texas seeing increased interest – YES Prep receiving nearly double the applications for the 2024-25 year compared to the previous season – HISD faces stiff competition in wooing back students.
Irrespective of the NES controversy, widespread demographic trends are also in play. Families across the nation are having fewer children, notes Erin Baumgartner from the Houston Education Research Consortium at Rice University's Kinder Institute, and without better policies on parental leave and childcare to support family growth, a return to pre-pandemic enrollment numbers remains a dicey prospect.
