The NES extreme focus on the Science of Reading (SOR) does a huge disservice to the breadth of student needs in support of strong literacy. A previous newsletter offered Scarborough’s Reading Rope to illustrate how the SOR skills (phonics, decoding, sight recognition) are only useful and interesting when they are embedded in broader applications that allow access to content knowledge. The NES version of SOR ignores the broader requirements of background knowledge, vocabulary, language structure under the misapprehension that if students can decode they are literate and can succeed on the STAAR test. Maybe students will show improvements on the STAAR in the short term, but they have no enthusiasm for reading or learning, nor do they have any stamina to read anything longer than the test length passages to which are all they are RESTRICTED during school hours. Without a campus library (and look on the map to see which parts of town have campus libraries), these students have no chance to become truly literate or college ready.

On April 24, 2025, Education Week published “It’s Not Just About the Phonics” by Sarah Schwartz. This NEW article reiterates the ideas illustrated by the Reading Rope and reflects current 2024-25 research. The article also references a new (to me) term, disciplinary literacy,” which is defined as “[referring] to how an expert in a discipline (i.e., science, history, mathematics, literature, and other subjects) uses specialized knowledge and abilities to read, write, think and communicate. (Shanahan & Shanahan, 2008; Shanahan & Shanahan, 2012; Jetton & Shanahan, 2012; Goldman et al., 2016). The NES curriculum allows no time to teach students how to read differently in different subject classes, or even just different kinds of books.

The Houston Chronicle also offered this: “Less than 5% of HISD students at some NES high schools meet Texas' reading, math standards on SAT.” How can they possibly meet college standards if they never have the chance to read a whole book or learn how to read different kinds of information?

by Suzanne Lyons
In HISD, the variety of experiences students have on their campuses and in their school library makes it a challenge to say exactly what happens… when you give a kid a library. In its simplest form the library is a room full of books. But what if the bar is raised? What if they DO have access to a fully staffed and fully resourced school library on their campus?
IMAGE SOURCE: Why is Houston shutting down libraries at some of its poorest public schools? by Francine Prose (Guardian, 15 Aug 2023)

​Just as libraries are not created equal… the “backpack of experience” each child carries is weighted in varying degrees.  Book deserts are real.  Children with no access to their school library may not have access to a public library, or a bookstore within a reasonable distance from their home.  Many parents have full schedules (long hours, multiple jobs, special family situations) and may not have the time, energy or transportation to bring their child to experience literature elsewhere.  Parents may not have the funds to purchase books for their child’s home library, so children don’t have access to books at home either.  Parents may not be aware of free and/or low-cost resources to access books for their child; or have the skills to help their child select a “just right” book; or even be able to read as adults. If a parent doesn’t model or value reading at home, and a child has no access to reading materials elsewhere they are not likely to develop a love or even a tolerance for reading.

This letter went today to all candidates for open School Board seats, as well as to all sitting Board members and to the sitting Board of Managers.
The candidates are: Savant Moore (unopposed, D2); Dani Hernandez (D3); Fe Bencosme (D3); Pat Allen (D4); Meg Seff (D4); Placido Gomez (unopposed, D8).
        
Dear HISD School Board Candidates, 
Students Need Libraries in HISD is organized for the purpose of raising awareness among HISD leadership, parents, and community about the importance of strong school libraries. We want all students to be successful in life. Reading is an important factor in their success. We know that presently the district leadership has lost sight of that understanding by closing libraries in some schools, but we believe that the Board of Managers and the elected board can provide the needed correction to develop proficient readers district-wide, a correction that should include campus libraries district-wide. HISD has many fine library programs and top-notch library professionals across the district. 
 
Research tells us that schools staffed by certified school librarians are better able to raise literacy rates and standardized test scores. “…[T]he benefits associated with good library programs are strongest for the most vulnerable and at-risk learners, including students of color, low-income students, and students with disabilities.” (Lance, Keith Curry and Debra Kachel. “Why School Librarians Matter: What Years of Research Tell Us.” Phi Delta Kappan, 26 Mar 2018.) Additionally, “A 2022 study by Rutgers University found 1st-year college students who had prior high school research experience, especially those from schools with certified librarians, felt more confident in their academic research skills.” (Philadelphia students navigate school without access to school libraries. Pennsylvania Capital Star, 24 Oct 2023). 
 
SNL is led by Debbie Hall, a retired HISD librarian; Dorcas Hand, another retired school librarian from Houston but not HISD; and Lisa Robinson, a former HISD teacher turned library staffer and now retired. We represent a grass-roots organization of HISD school library supporters from across the district. Our membership includes active duty librarians, parents, community activists, retired librarians, and others who support school libraries. We have seen the impact that strong resources and programs organized by trained professionals can have on students hungry to learn, both in and beyond the classroom. We are working toward the goal that all students in all HISD schools will benefit from an active, engaging library program which will allow them access to resources they need to grow as readers and learners.
 
Our SNL website is packed with information for you as Board candidates and members, as well as for all advocates for and stakeholders in HISD school libraries. Today, we offer you current and retrospective data about library staffing in your Board district. We know how hard you will work for students in our district, and want to help you have accurate information about ways to help them even more. Thank you for all you hope to do as an HISD Board Trustee.
 
The graph below offers you an overview of current staffing compared to last year and to 2019. We note that in 2022, library staffing and libraries were reactivated in most campuses that had been without. Most of the 2022 staffing were certified librarians or teachers. This year, under Mike Miles, most of that progress has been lost - especially in low-income neighborhoods of color, areas where students are least likely to have ready access to a convenient public library or other book sources, areas likely to be considered “book deserts.” Given that raising literacy skills and scores is a top priority of the district, this loss of access to a variety of age-appropriate books to support student interests and academic needs is heartbreaking and counterproductive. We also remain concerned about the $1.4 million in ESSER funds invested in these reactivated library programs, funds  that are now unaccounted for on too many campuses.

The numeric data that supports this graph can be found by scrolling down on the Houston Independent School District School Board page. If you are interested in the details for each elected Board district, please click on the appropriate district on that same page. You may also want to “Choose Your Own Adventure - you can Discover 10 Ways Effective School Librarians Support HISD Students.” Read one or several, in any order. Short reads, every one.
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We look forward to meeting you, to answering any further questions you may have, and to building a relationship that will serve the students of HISD well after you join the elected Board in January to support the Board of Managers in deeper understandings of the role libraries could play in improving student STAAR scores. We welcome you to advocate with us whether you are elected or not.
Respectfully,
Dorcas Hand 
Debbie Hall ​

Debbie Hall sent this letter to the state-appointed HISD Board of Managers a few days ago. I am sharing it here so that all our Students Need Libraries readers are aware of the snow job that is happening in TEA. We must all continue to speak up at every opportunity. There are no roses to be found in the chaos that Mike Miles is instigating. Our HISD students across the district are subjected to unreasonable education methods. 
 
I saw that Mr. Morath recently gave the SBOE an update on the Houston ISD takeover. I am sure you are aware of the fact that this takeover by TEA has received national attention and generally it has not been viewed by the public favorably. I wanted to clarify the remarks he made to you. We do not need more misinformation. 

1. Mr. Morath stated incorrectly that HISD was beginning the year with no vacancies. That is highly questionable. Looking at the HISD website, numerous positions are being advertised. We have seen multiple instances of inaccurate information being reported by this administration. Miles is working hard to fill the teaching positions even as he has made cuts in the Personnel department. At least one hired teacher was escorted off campus when the district realized that individual failed the background check. Mr. Miles is insisting on moving as quickly as possible and this is definitely putting students at risk. A number of teachers have been hired that are not certified. Putting unprepared, untrained staff in schools is disturbing. Currently the district is advertising and looking to hire more hourly lecturers who will not be certified educators.
2. At least 28 libraries have been converted to discipline/study centers. The contents of the libraries are in disarray due to accommodating large numbers of desks. Some of the library shelving and books have been removed from schools and sent to the warehouse to make room. These items were on the campus inventory and part of a school’s capital outlay. It is unclear if this is being accounted for. One of the constraints on school policy is a focus on equity which is not being considered. Currently it is estimated that about 1/3 of HISD schools no longer offer library services. Most of the schools where libraries are being eliminated are in minority communities.
3. Much money is being spent on desks, additional support personnel, and administrative support. Reading is supposed to be a major focus which is understandable. What is not clear is why Mr. Miles is targeting libraries and removing the services of a librarian on campus. The teacher is responsible for students learning to read. The library is responsible for inspiring kids to want to read as well as teaching research skills to enable students to effectively search for information online and within a library collection.  It makes no sense to close libraries when you are trying to increase reading scores. 
4. The appointed Board of Education is merely a rubber stamp. TEA has instituted an autocracy. There is no accountability for Miles' spending or policies.
5. TEA should enforce standards in schools like having certified personnel. Mike Miles is an uncertified superintendent. What does that say about the decision to put him in charge of the largest school district in the state? 

The long term effects of the takeover are huge. All Texas schools are currently struggling to hire teachers. This takeover is going to make it worse. No one is going to want to teach in Houston under this administration.  We need a state board that will work to improve education for students, teachers, and our communities. Allowing Mike Miles and Mike Morath to be unaccountable is a travesty and will ultimately add to the teacher shortage problem statewide. 
 
Sincerely,
Deborah Hall
Education Advocate
Retired Educator

by Lisa Sandoz Robinson

When former Texas State Rep. Matt Krause released his list of 850 titles* that he felt needed to be investigated, I read through page after page with growing alarm. An informational text on how to avoid bullies? A history book about the Trail of Tears? A book discussing a resistance movement among Afghani girls? But what really shocked me was seeing a book that I myself had purchased for my elementary school library just a few years ago: Separate Is Never Equal by Duncan Tonatiuh.

When I selected this nonfiction title, I was impressed by its numerous awards. I was also hopeful that my mostly Hispanic students could relate to the story since the case involved Sylvia Mendez’s fight to desegregate her California school for children of Mexican heritage. When the book came in, my students were excited to hear about a girl with whom they had so much in common. It reminded me that diverse stories matter for our students who need to see themselves in the books that they read. It also reinforced my belief that one of the most important tasks that a librarian can do is share those individual stories of history that the classroom curriculum is sometimes too rushed to cover. When diverse books and books telling an uncomfortable or difficult story from history are removed from library and classroom shelves, these goals cannot be realized.

I am the co-moderator of a new Facebook group called the Banned Book Club. We have read some great banned and challenged books in the last few months. In honor of National Children’s Picture Book Day on April 2nd, our April Zoom session will be the first time we focus on picture books. These wonderful books, which are usually geared towards younger readers but are really for anyone who loves a great story accompanied by a wealth of illustrations, have also been targeted by rightwing extremists in their zeal to “cleanse” our schools and public libraries.

We cannot continue to let them get away with these book banning efforts which are happening across the country at all grade levels. Too much is at stake. As Kentucky nurse epidemiologist Beverly May wrote in an October 2021 op-ed for the Lexington Herald Leader, “the cost of acquiescence is steep: our kids have lost essential reading, and useful tools have been taken from teachers. Now emboldened, the parent/censors will return, and not just to Floyd County. They are part of a national trend of online organizing which seems to have the unspoken objective of removing literature written by or about black and brown people, as well as any other work that doesn’t affirm their narrow world view, from our schools.”

We must speak up and speak out loudly at every opportunity.

*https://static.texastribune.org/media/files/94fee7ff93eff9609f141433e41f8ae1/krausebooklist.pdf

By Dorcas Hand
This may be an off-year for school board elections, but political rhetoric for all other races is heating to a fever pitch. Education issues have become pawns as some try to say schools are not doing their job properly. We are all watching as K-12 curriculum and libraries have both taken heat.

We want to thank the HISD School Board and administration for standing by the solid policies and procedures already in place to manage requests for reconsideration of materials, rather than acting on demands from the loud and passionate speakers who attend SB meetings to request that books be banned. The restoration of library services to all campuses this year is further support of this effort to offer our students a wide range of reading materials to accommodate their ages, abilities, interests and academic needs. HISD demonstrated in its budget decisions that we value our teachers, and are working hard to pay them what they are worth. Thank you for also respecting them as the professionals they are and for the expertises they hold. 

We are here today to remind you that a majority of voters prefer that libraries and classrooms continue to offer readers of all ages access to information that will help them explore their world, and fiction that will excite their imaginations and strengthen their literacy.* These mainstream voters want to make sure that children in families struggling to make ends meet can get the same good education as children in wealthy families, and that quality public education grounded in respect for each person is available to every student. 

Many voters are confident that the democracy defined by our Constitution will keep us steadily moving into the future. But it is the voices in the minority, loud and demanding, who want to control not only what their own children read and learn, but what all children read and learn - and they do it for political clout, rather than for the children. They have generally not completely read the books in question, but focused on words and phrases taken out of context. The so-called Parental Rights they fight for already exist, and schools listen to them. Every parent has the right and responsibility to play the lead role in the education of their own children, but they do not have any right to deny other families the same right to offer their children more open access to information.

How can our students learn to lead this democracy as adults if they cannot read about our history - even unpleasant, messy, unfortunate historical events - to see attitudes and actions they want to prevent from happening again? How can they appreciate the lives, cultures and experiences of our diverse city and world without exposure to all of that? How can our students learn to manage their own human development and understand people around them if those topics are not available? All kids deserve to feel safe to learn and thrive at school. Removing resources that make a few uncomfortable leaves many more students with limited academic resources that would honor their cultural awareness. In America, we celebrate free speech and independent thinking. Trying to limit or remove those freedoms is censorship. 

Thank you for continuing to support Superintendent House and the amazing well-educated, hard-working teachers and administrators HISD has hired as they work with our awesome and diverse students. We are relying on these students to understand their changing world as they become Houston voters and leaders. They will need broad knowledge, confidence in their abilities to collaborate with many, and insightful creativity to solve the problems we already see and the new ones we don’t yet imagine. And you are the current School Board we rely on to continue your support of a great HISD education. Thank you for your service. Students Need Libraries in HISD stands by you to defend our students’ right to read.

*“New ALA Poll Shows Voters Oppose Book Bans.” American Libraries, 24 Mar 2022. “The poll was conducted by Hart Research Associates and North Star Opinion Research on behalf of ALA. It included 1,000 voters and 472 parents of children in public schools. The sample is demographically and geographically representative of voters and parents in the US. Additional survey findings and methodology can be found on the ALA website.”