The Houston Independent School District (HISD) is set to launch a project to change how the district hires and retains teachers with the help of a national program and some money from private donors.
The New Teacher Project (TNTP), a New York-based nonprofit that works with districts to recruit and retain the best teachers for urban schools, will coordinate the $8.4 million project. TNTP is currently consulting with the district and will produce a report on its hiring practices this summer. District officials hope to fine-tune hiring so they can attract better teachers and boost student achievement.
However, the district is still raising the bulk of the funding to continue the project after this summer. HISD has spent $50,000, moved $75,000 from the ASPIRE teacher bonus program, and accepted a $75,000 grant from the Houston-based Arnold Foundation to fund the project through August. TNTP has pledged $200,000 to match the local funds.
“We are going to call everything that we do into question as it relates to human capital with the eye toward determining, ‘do our efforts actually get us to our goal?’” said Ann Best, chief human resources officer for the district.
After collecting information this summer through surveys and focus groups, consultants from TNTP will present information to the district on ways to make sure that excellence is recognized and that poor teachers are held accountable.
“Our ultimate goal is to increase student achievement. And we believe that the key lever or the greatest driver toward increased student achievement is a high quality teacher in every classroom,” Best said. HISD’s effort to hold teachers accountable for the performance of their students has been in the news lately, with school district trustees approving a measure in February to allow teachers to be fired due to low student test scores.
At this time, no significant changes to the hiring process of teachers at HISD are anticipated. More changes could come after the summer, with work that is expected to cost between $4 million and $6 million in a four-year period.
The next phases are about prioritized implementation. According to Best, “We’re not sure how any of those things will look. They really are focused on, how do you get the best people in the door, how do you retain the great people that you have, and how do you help people who are less effective improve, and when do you say we have worked on this enough, and for the sake of our students we need to make a different choice.”
Surprisingly enough, this new program does not necessarily mean a lot of new hires. “Typically, HISD hires between 1,000 and 1,200 teachers every year. We expect to see that continue,” Best said. What may change, though, is the process by which HISD recruits, retains, and removes teachers from the district.
The district will need to raise millions of dollars to reach the final phases of the project. Grier acknowledges that it has not yet secured any funding sources to be able to move forward. The superintendent is searching nationally and locally for the money needed to complete the final phases.
If HISD cannot raise the funds, Grier says the district will be forced to halt the program and will not be responsible for footing the multimillion dollar bill associated with moving forward.
“HISD needs millions of dollars to implement plan to retool way teachers are hired; school brass seeking donors,” by Lynn Walsh, Texas Watchdog Web site 
, Feb. 12, 2010.
