Houston school district transforms libraries

Mario Porras and Abigail Fields, Staff Writers

The Houston Independent School District stated that they will transition librarians into new roles throughout the upcoming school year, and their libraries will become “team centers.” Due to low standardized test and reading scores, these team centers taking up library space are used to put ‘behavioral students’ in a place to take tests or work by themselves rather than in other normal classes.

Superintendent of Houston Independent School System Mike Miles stated, "We’re not going to have traditional libraries… The books are still there…” This new change is Miles’ so-called New Education System. The district has announced that students removed from their classes due to ‘behavioral issues’ can join these lessons virtually.

An honor system allows students to read books before and after school. However, bus riders who get to school late, leave early, or are not a part of the honor system will not have access to these books. These honor students are enrolled in honor, AP, and/or dual enrollment classes. Honor system students have access to libraries before school starts and right when school ends.

CHS librarian Amy Gore stated, “Not every child is an honor student, and not every student needs to be an honor student.”

“This is prejudice against those poor children,” CHS Librarian Amy Collins said.

Collins and Gore both agree that blocking children from learning is not how administrators can fix these behavioral issues. 7