While educators may carefully follow news in their own cities, stories from other communities can shed light on the policy, societal factors, and student trends that may affect their work in the future.
Here are a four local education stories you may have missed in 2024—and some brief analysis of what they may signal for your school or district.
In Houston, a pilot of dramatic, systemic changes in schools
Houston schools are in their second school year of dramatic changes following the state appointment of Superintendent Mike Miles.
Miles took the role with the promise of bold changes: requiring teachers and principals to reapply for their jobs, teacher merit pay, rigorous evaluations, higher pay for core subject teachers, district-supplied lesson plans, and converting school libraries to “team centers” for disruptive students.
Miles’ “overhaul of the district has produced early test score gains but an increase in teacher turnover,” reported the Houston Landing, an independent local outlet that has extensively covered the superintendent’s big moves. The number of first-year teachers in the district has increased from 6 percent prior to Miles’ arrival to 12 percent this school year.
This year, the district saw a year-over-year enrollment decline of about 7,600 students, exceeding a projected loss of 4,000 students. That’s the largest dropoff in students since the start of the pandemic, the Houston Landing reported.
What it means for other districts: In a world where district leaders often move slowly to change systems, Miles seems to be doing everything at once. As one of the largest districts in the country in a state known for embracing aggressive school improvement efforts , Houston could be a test case for reform policies that may be adopted elsewhere.
Related Education Week coverage: Education workforce experts say it’s normal to see high rates of staff turnover at the beginning of a dramatic shift in operations. It’s an expected part of school improvement to part ways with educators who don’t want to shift their approaches, they say. But adopting too many reforms at once may make it difficult to pinpoint what’s working (or what isn’t).
In Los Angeles, a cautionary tale about artificial intelligence
An AI innovation billed as a game changer for students and their families in the nation’s second largest district quickly became a cautionary tale about the dangers of rapid tech adoption, the Los Angeles Times reported.
An AI chatbot named “Ed” would advise Los Angeles Unified parents and students, sharing information about grades, test results and attendance, Superintendent Alberto Carvalho announced as he unveiled it in March. The bot would also provide students with individualized learning plans and resources to improve their education, he said.
But within months of firing up the new “personal assistant” for a host of pilot schools, the district shut it down, a decision that followed upheaval at AllHere, the company LAUSD hired to create the tool at a cost of up to $6 million over five years. Adding to that tumult, a company whistleblower raised concerns about student privacy on the platform.
In November, prosecutors charged AllHere founder Joanna Smith-Griffin with defrauding investors in her company, the Times reported.
Carvalho has said he plans to apppoint a task force to explore what went wrong and to salvage the chatbot design, the Times reported.
What it means for other districts: As districts explore the potential uses of rapidly developing AI platforms, experts have cautioned that they need thoughtful, deliberate planning that considers issues like data security, unintended consequences, and ease of use.
Related Education Week coverage: Experts, speaking to Education Week in July, offered lessons other districts could glean from LA Unified’s experience. A December special report explored emerging questions about how AI could affect all facets of district operations—from student testing to financial management.
In Chicago, an urban district faces political upheaval
The Chicago school board voted unanimously to fire CEO Pedro Martinez Dec. 20, following months of conflict between Martinez and Mayor Brandon Johnson about how to lead the school system through fiscally perilous times, WBEZ Chicago reported.
Hours before that vote, Martinez filed a lawsuit to try to stop the move, arguing it was a breach of his contract, but a court has not yet considered his filing. The board’s decision came two months after the appointed school board resigned en masse following disagreements with the mayor about how to handle a projected budget shortfall worsened by the end of federal COVID aid.
WBEZ reports: “The Chicago Teachers Union, the mayor’s staunch ally and former employer who vaulted him to office, wants to settle its contract negotiations with ambitious ideas that could reshape an underfunded school district—and the assurance that layoffs and furloughs won’t follow in the spring as a result.”
“The costs of even a modest CTU contract, plus a pension payment for non-teacher CPS employees that Martinez has refused to take on from City Hall, are still expected to cause a mid-year budget deficit.”
The city has used property tax gains from targeted high-growth development areas to help make up the shortfall, WBEZ reports,"but without an additional solution, an estimated $140 million hole will remain, and budget cuts could come in the second half of the school year.”
The mayor and the union have pushed for a high-interest loan to fill the gap, but Martinez has blocked that plan, calling it irresponsible, WBEZ reports.
Adding to the turmoil: Under a new governance structure, the district will seat a new school board in January that includes mayoral appointees and members newly elected by the public for the first time in three decades.
What it means for other districts: Tough financial choices—brought on by the end of COVID aid, declines in enrollment, and inflation—are likely to inflame political tensions that already plague big city districts as leaders make tough choices about closing schools, laying off teachers, and reorganizing programs, leadership experts say.
Related Education Week coverage: Experts spoke to Education Week about how Chicago’s switch to an elected school board model is the latest example of the fading popularity of mayoral control of schools, a reform that took root in some cities in the 1990s in an effort to boost accountability and urban school performance. Programs through organizations like the the Council of the Great City Schools hope to train current and future district leaders in skills like forming political relationships and working with school boards to help them endure through tough times.
In Oklahoma, testing the limits of the church-state divide in schools
Outspoken Oklahoma state schools chief Ryan Walters announced a plan in June to require teachers of 5th through 12th grade students in the state to incorporate teachings about the Bible’s “influence on Western civilization,” “impact on American history,” and use in art and culture.
That troubled Skiatook, Okla., mother Olivia Gray, who said a lesson in her high school daughter’s world history class was inappropriate and offensive to her as a Native American, the Bartlesville Examiner-Enterprise reported.
“The assignment titled ‘How did the world start?’ asked questions like ‘Who started it?’ ‘What does it mean to be a Christian?’ and ‘Is God real?’” Gray told the paper, questioning whether it came as a result of Walters’ order.
“I think they’re the wrong questions to ask a Native student, considering our history,” Gray told the Examiner-Enterprise. “If you consider how we’ve been forcefully converted, I don’t think asking us any questions about Christianity is fair at this point.”
The Skiatook district later reviewed the lesson, deemed it inappropriate, and removed it from the class.
Gray said she feared Walters’ order would lead to similar discussions in the state’s classrooms, threatening the religious freedom of non-religious students and students who observe religions outside of Christianity.
What it means for other districts: Schools around the country could face tricky questions about the First Amendment as state lawmakers weigh moves to require the display and discussion of religious texts in schools. Those moves come as prominent politicians, like conservative state leaders and President-elect Donald Trump, insist that lessons on the Bible must be included in discussions of the nation’s history.
Related Education Week coverage: In October, Education Week covered a lawsuit brought on behalf of more than 30 community members, including parents, teachers, and religious leaders, that argues that Walters’ Bible mandate should be ruled invalid. Biblical scholars said that even well-intentioned, non-devotional discussions about the Bible can be tricky for public schools, in part because teachers don’t always recognize the biases they bring to the classroom. But defenders of such lessons said familiarity with the often-cited text is necessary for students’ understanding of art, history, and literature.
Other ways states have tested the church-state divide in public schools in 2024: mandating the display of the Ten Commandments, infusing optional curriculum with Bible content, and clearing the way for voluntary school chaplains.
