Four journalists reflect on the challenges and successes of covering the Houston takeover, which has so far received little national attention.
By Alexander Russo
Roughly a year ago, the state took over the Houston, Texas public school system (known as HISD) and appointed an outsider named Mike Miles.
Thanks in part to robust reader interest and strong reporting, the coverage was abundant.
“I can’t think of another news event in Houston that has demanded this level of coverage for this length of time,” says Houston Chronicle education editor Jennifer Radcliffe.
The takeover generated “continuing interest on the part of the media,” says Houston Press editor in chief Margaret Downing. “Not just online and in print, but also from the television stations.”
State takeovers like the one taking place in Houston are among the most difficult kinds of stories education reporters cover.
Curious about what the coverage experience was like, I asked a handful of journalists to reflect and share insights. Some of them have decades of experience covering big stories. Others were new to the beat or the city, had just a month or so to get up to speed — or arrived after the takeover had begun.
But they were all challenged by the task. And the challenge isn’t over yet. According to at least one of the journalists covering it, the HISD takeover has national implications.
“What happens in Houston will contribute to the answers to many questions that education leaders are asking across the country,” says Houston Landing’s Asher Lehrer-Small. “I don’t think there’s a bigger story in education news right now.”
I don’t think there’s a bigger story in education news right now. – Asher Lehrer-Small
The following insights and reflections from Houston Chronicle editor Jennifer Radcliffe, Houston Landing education reporter Asher Lehrer-Small, Houston Chronicle reporter Sam González Kelly, and Houston Press’s editor in chief Margaret Downing have been edited.
A MASSIVE CHANGE
RULES GONE OUT THE WINDOW
The typical procedures and rules just kind of went out the window all at once. Administrative staff and the school board turned over almost entirely. We lost many sources all at once. We were operating with new rules — or maybe no rules. – Jennifer Radcliffe (JR)
LIKE DRINKING FROM A FIREHOSE
There was just so much happening so fast. And the appetite from readers and the leadership at the Chronicle was so great. Sometimes I would publish six or seven stories in a week. But then maybe I would miss the one big thematic trend. – Sam González Kelly (SGK)
A SILENT BOARD
We have never before had a board that doesn’t talk to the media. They don’t give out their number. They don’t give their email. Until recently we haven’t seen them talk in meetings. And they still don’t explain their decisions. I think there’s a sense both from the public and from the media that, ‘Wait a minute This isn’t right.’ – Margaret Downing (MD)
We were operating with new rules — or maybe no rules. – Jennifer Radcliffe
MAJOR CHALLENGES
LITTLE SOLO CLASSROOM TIME
I was never in a classroom without HISD supervision. I never really had a moment to sit in the back of the room for an entire period by myself. So the classroom visits all felt a little bit I don’t want to say staged but manicured. – SGK
FINDING BALANCE
I always tried to give HISD every opportunity to respond when people had complaints against them. And then on the flip side, if HISD was really pushing some new initiative as like this big positive for the district I tried to make sure that I wasn’t just pushing their narrative and also talking to people who may have conflicting feelings about these sorts of things. – SGK
FINDING REPRESENTATION
When you go to board meetings, there’s a lot of criticism of the superintendent. But when I go to school drop off lines or pickup lines, the most common response I get is, ‘My kid’s school is different this year?’ They’re either unaware of the changes, or indifferent to them, or they have a much more nuanced or mixed take of the changes. The criticism that I hear at board meetings is not fully representative of the average voices that I hear at school pickup lines among families who are most directly affected by the intervention. – Asher Lehrer-Small (ALS)
NOT EVEN GOOD NEWS
I several times asked the press office, ’Do you have any great stories that you want to tell about some kid overcoming something, something wonderful?’ and never got any leads out of that. In previous administrations, I would get ‘Yes, there’s this homeless kid who was taken in by a Russian teacher at the school.’ Or ‘here’s this amazing principal who came out of retirement in her 80s and faced down a gang and transformed her school.’ Now, I don’t get anything like that. – MD
The criticism that I hear at board meetings is not fully representative of the average voices that I hear at school pickup lines. – Asher Lehrer-Small
HARD-WON WISDOM
PUSH HARD FOR ACCESS
We had really, really hoped to have regular access to a handful of schools so we could tell the story from inside, but we never got that access. I wish I could have figured out how to make that happen. – JR
CHOOSE STORIES CAREFULLY
There’s always more stories you want to be able to do. We had some tenets we fell back on: ‘Does this impact students directly? Does this speak to what’s happening at a scale that represents the district as opposed to one campus or a couple campuses?’ – ALS
AVOID OBVIOUS MISTAKES
We saw in real time that the Team Centers were not just detention centers. They were there not only for a kid who was acting up but also students who had done particularly well and were given extra worksheets to do higher level work. But some members of the media — not the Houston Press — allowed that false narrative to keep going for weeks. – MD
I was always very careful in all my stories when I mentioned the Team Centers, I always included the caveat that they are not solely used for detention, or discipline. I don’t think I ever used the word detention center in a story. But I saw a lot of outlets that did, especially the cable stations. – SGK
FACT-CHECK EVERYTHING
There have been several instances in which the way the district describes what’s going on in the district doesn’t match with the records we can obtain. The biggest thing for me on this beat has just been learning to fact check like hell and request records like hell because there have been a lot of instances where that’s been really important. – ALS
CAREFUL USE OF ANONYMOUS SOURCES
Educators are very cautious about speaking publicly. This is understandable because their jobs are at risk. A number of the educators who have been most outspoken have been terminated. But that’s led to a lot of editorial decisions on our end about at what threshold to publish. And so, there’s been a couple instances where we made the decision to publish based on anonymous sourcing when we have many voices speaking to the same thing across different campuses. – ALS
At the beginning of the takeover, we were pretty lenient granting anonymity to employees because we felt that they had reason to fear for their jobs and an important perspective to share. But we did start to insist on doing interviews on the record as the year progressed, and we usually could find teachers who wanted to talk. – SGK
Some members of the media — not the Houston Press — allowed that false narrative to keep going for weeks. – Margaret Downing
FINAL THOUGHTS
LEARN FROM SCRUTINY
I’ve had to try to just stay true to my compass and what families at the center of the intervention have told me. It’s never comfortable when someone’s telling you, ‘Hey, you framed this in the wrong way.’ Or ‘You missed the main story.’ But I think it challenges me to be better and every time that someone offers criticism, I’m listening for what I can learn from it and how much stock I want to put in it. – ALS
MAKE THE CONNECTIONS
There are so many things happening here in regards to HISD that people don’t have time to think, to understand or develop the longer story. And so it’s this, and that, and ‘Did this number change? And what happened there?’ There may be connections among the items but there’s no time to make them. – MD
SEIZE THE DAY
I’m pretty proud of the profile that I did of Mike Miles that came out at the beginning of the month. I think I did a reasonably good job of keeping the tone balanced and offering a pretty equal number of supporting and oppositional perspectives, along with some personal details that add a little bit of context to the person that’s possible for all these changes, who has frankly become kind of like this pantomime villain in Houston, without passing judgment for or against him personally. As a journalist, I felt that cartoonish persona that he had been given could at least use a little more context. – SKG
For coverage of the Houston schools takeover, check out the education pages of the Houston Chronicle, Houston Landing, Houston Press, and Houston Public Media
Alexander Russo is a longtime education journalist and founder of The Grade. He’s a recipient of the Spencer Education Journalism Fellowship and winner of the Education Writers Association award for commentary. You can follow him at @alexanderrusso.
Previously from The Grade
Parents and vulnerable kids ‘slipping through the cracks’ in Providence
How the NYT’s Susan Dominus reported on Providence schools without going into classrooms
