HISD trustees and Grier spar over school reform
HISD Superintendent Terry Grier launched the Apollo reform program at nine of the district’s lowest-performing middle and high schools in 2010 and expanded it to nine elementary schools the following year. (Photo by Eric Kayne)
The ghost of Apollo spooked the HISD school board Monday.
Superintendent Terry Grier’s administration is asking the board to approve up to $306,000 to hire Education Innovation Laboratory to work with dozens of the district’s low-performing schools. The group, also known as EdLabs, is the Harvard University lab led by economics professor Roland Fryer that worked with Grier on his Apollo school reform program.
The Apollo initiative, which Grier launched in 2010 at nine low-performing schools and expanded to 20 the next year, had mixed results — students made significant gains in math, less in reading. The multimillion-dollar program included specially hired math tutors and a longer school day. At the outset it also involved replacing the principals and many of the teachers.
Apollo began as a three-year pilot program, funded mostly by private funds and grants. In 2013, the school board agreed to fund the effort from the district’s general budget, plus add money for other schools with struggling students.
Grier’s academic chief, Dan Gohl, made clear that this proposal to hire EdLabs is not a request to expand or replicate Apollo. Instead, Gohl and Grier said, the district is required by law to hire outsiders to work with its lowest-performing schools. The district solicited requests for proposals, and more than a dozen entities applied. According to the district’s request, the outside group is supposed to work with principals and higher-level administrators on “leadership behaviors that will improve instruction and close achievement gaps,” make at least four visits to the schools, collect data and debrief.
Board president Juliet Stipeche launched the nearly 40-minute discussion about the item by asking whether Education Innovation Laboratory was the same group that worked on Apollo.
Grier said the entity was the same but the players would be different. Fryer, he said, would not be visiting the schools.
Trustee Manuel Rodriguez Jr. then questioned the procurement process. The records he had showed that EdLabs barely landed in first place, but procurement staffer Robert Fazakerly said the board didn’t have all the information. Fazakerly said EdLabs finished 11 points ahead after a runoff between the top two bidders.
“It’s with full confidence that I can represent to you, sir, that this was done above board, and it was done in accordance with the process,” Fazakerly told Rodriguez later. “We didn’t really select. The process selected.”
When trustee Mike Lunceford started asking if the work would be different from Apollo, Grier interrupted.
“Here’s the thing, folks. We don’t have to do this…” Grier said, as Lunceford jumped in.
Lunceford: “I’m trying to just find out what we’re going to do and how we’re going to measure it. … I want HISD trustees and Grier spar over school reform - K-12 Zone:
