Black Schools UNDER ATTACK

Critics blast HISD decision to turn libraries into detention centers.

By ReShonda Tate

When Houston ISD Superintendent Mike Miles announced he would convert some school libraries into discipline centers, he knew the idea wouldn’t go over well. It didn’t. And now, community, civic and elected leaders, along with educators, parents and residents are vowing to fght the move by any means necessary saying it is an attack on communities of color.

Miles plans to eliminate librarians and media specialists from 28 New Education System (NES) campuses, ALL of which are at least 60% African American. Teachers at those schools will send misbehaving students to the library — which will be turned into “Team Centers” — to learn virtually.

Leaders Outraged

The strategy has drawn international media attention and infuriated local leaders.

Mayor Sylvester Turner has been vocal in blasting the plan, accusing Miles of robbing students at certain schools of a vital learning resource while demeaning the value of libraries in education.

“HISD is creating a school district of the ‘haves’ and the ‘have-nots’. With some areas in the district equipped with libraries full of books and technology, while others will resemble stark institutions with no place to go to their school library, to study to check out a book, get the assistance of a librarian and expand their own imagination,” Turner said.

Turner likened the strategy to “apartheid.”

“If you want to put [misbehaving students] in the gym, put them in the gym,” Turner said. “But don’t close the libraries.

Defending His Decision

Miles, appointed to the position in June by Texas Education Commissioner Mike Morath as part of sweeping state sanctions against the district, remains committed to his plan. He is adamant the strategy will create better learning conditions for students and allow the district to redirect more resources to classroom instruction.

Are there students who need additional support?

Yes, and I am 100% supportive of that. But it’s not an either/or. You don’t close the libraries, remove the librarians, and simply have the books on the shelf. What about all the other students? What are you saying to them?”

MAYOR SYLVESTER TURNER

“Eliminating...the libraries are a direct hit on Brown v. Board of Education, which in 1954 decided to integrate our schools. It is a violation of the 1964 Civil Rights Act dealing with accommodations,” U.S. Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee said. “Tis speaks loudly to the Department of Education...and the Department of Justice, who has indicated many things to me that this is getting their attention.”

Tough librarians will be cut from some campuses, books will remain on the shelves and available for checkout on an honor system, Miles said.

Turner added that libraries were no longer simply “a warehouse of books,” but had become places where students learned how to navigate information in a digital world and where students could go to “create and produce.”

NAACP to hold protest over Miles’ ‘librariesto-school jail’ plan

By Aswad Walker

People don’t want to say this, but the white schools have libraries. If they took libraries from white schools their parents would go nuts. I fought to get libraries at Yates, Sterling, Cullen and Attucks. So, I take this real personal.”

STATE REP.

JOLANDA JONES

“I cannot and will not govern the state’s largest school district by press conference or press release,” Miles said. “Te time for politics is over, and we will not be distracted by intentional misinformation.”

Miles has asked Turner, parents and community members to withhold their critiques until they see the Team Centers in practice, arguing that “discipline is a small part” of the model. He has added that the approach is largely centered on providing fexible learning environments for students.

LOST LIBRARIES?

Some supporters of the strategy say students have long ago stopped using libraries, so it makes sense. But many blame the district’s relative lack of investment in them.

While most neighboring districts employ a librarian in every school, many HISD campuses historically have not had them. Tat’s mostly a function of HISD’s “decentralized” stafng approach, in which principals are given authority to choose which positions to prioritize with a dedicated amount of money. Most principals chose to put resources into areas other than libraries.

As recently as 2021-22, roughly three-quarters of the 28 NES campuses did not employ a full- or part-time librarian, state data shows. However, the records show that all but three of the 28 schools had a librarian in 2022-23, when HISD Superintendent Millard House prioritized the position across the district.

Miles’ reversal of that approach, however, has led to one of the biggest uproars in his short tenure to date.

WHAT HAPPENS NOW?

Miles’ plan will likely move forward. While civic leaders can speak out against Miles’ proposals, they have no legal authority to force him to change course. Only members of HISD’s state-appointed school board — who Morath can replace at any time — have that power. None of the nine board members have responded to requests for comment about the library strategy. However, Jackson Lee, who is running to succeed Turner as mayor, indicated the possibility of federal intervention.

“We do not want our schools to look like prisons,” Turner said. “You cannot expect us to remain silent. Tese are our children. Tese are our kids. Tese are our schools. Tis is our city, and long afer he is gone, we will still be here.”

Vocal members of the Black and Latinx communities made it perfectly clear that they see HISD Superintendent Mike Miles’ plan to eliminate librarians on 28 campuses and convert their libraries into detention centers as a direct move to further fuel the school-to-prison pipeline.

NAACP Houston President Dr. James Dixon has issued a call to action for all Houstonians appalled by Miles’ plan to converge on HISD’s Hattie Mae White Building (4400 W. 18th St., Houston, 77092) on Aug. 5 at 9a.m. to demand a policy reversal.

I drank from the colored water fountain. I know what it’s like to have to sit in the balcony of the movie, in the back of the bus. I don’t want to go back to that. … (Mayor Turner) is taking the necessary steps to deal with this incremental step that is going to take us backwards. We’ve got to stop it here.”

U.S. REP. AL GREEN

“It is with great concern for our children that we, the Houston NAACP, along with our friends express our sharp disagreement with the decisions made by state-appointed HISD Superintendent Mike Miles,” said Dixon. “The thought of closing and repurposing libraries in schools is not only insulting, but it’s also repulsive. It reveals a measure of disrespect and disregard for our children’s need to have access to the best and most functional libraries and schools available. And that includes professional staf.”

Dixon said that according to the US National Commission on Libraries and Information Science, school libraries are critical for student achievement, and that research conducted nationwide in more than 60 studies shows, “students in schools with good libraries learn more, get better grades, and score higher on standardized testing than their peers in schools without libraries,” underscoring the importance of school libraries and librarians.

“Today, we’re here because despite the research… the state-appointed HISD superintendent is leading this district to… fre librarians and to repurpose that space to deal with children with discipline challenges. The detriment such a decision will have on the intellectual, psychological and emotional development of

Dr. James Dixon (second from right) is surrounded by individuals protesting the recent plan by HISD Superintendent Mike Miles regarding libraries at the NAACP Houston Branch headquarters on July 28, 2023. Credit: Aswad Walker our children is astronomical and generational,” said Dixon, who was not alone in his disgust for Miles’ recent announcement.

“In the words of [Mayor Sylvester Turner], you [Miles] have crossed the line,” added Councilmember Carolyn Evans-Shabazz. “And we are here to push you back like [Abbott’s agents pushed back] the children at the Rio Grande.” Houston Federation of Teachers President Jackie Anderson said Miles opens every public meeting by listing the reading defciency numbers of NES campuses.

“According to the presented numbers, a signifcant number of fourth and eighth graders in HISD are not reading at their grade level,” said Anderson. “To remove librarians and libraries is an oxymoron. Mr. Miles, school libraries are vital for promoting literacy, fostering the love for learning and supporting students’ academic and personal development. To turn them into school prisons destroys any hope that students in the NES campuses will ever read on grade level or develop a love for learning.”

Dixon called business, faith and organization leaders to lend their voice against Miles’ library/detention center plan on Aug. 5