Reporting Highlights
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Increase in costs:
Houston ISD is spending millions to pay for academic reforms, including more staff, higher salaries and new equipment. At half of the district’s schools, HISD spent an extra $700,000 per campus and about $2,200 more per student.
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Dropping enrollment:
HISD lost 21,000 students since the start of the takeover, an enrollment decline that’s at a rate faster than its urban peer districts. That translates into about $190 million in less state funding.
- District cuts: Houston ISD pulled nearly $450 million dollars from its rainy day reserves in the first two years of the takeover. It laid off roughly 1,500 central-office staff, more than 200 wraparound specialists and eliminated 85 bus routes.
