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About 21,000 fewer students attend Houston ISD than when Texas seized control in 2023, a slide that has cost the district roughly $190 million in state aid, according to a Texas Tribune analysis.
- In 2025-26, HISD's immigrant enrollment fell by nearly 4,000 (22%) and Hispanic enrollment slid 6% during the federal immigration crackdown. The district expects to lose about 4,000 more students this year.
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Immigration is only part of the picture: the sharpest losses hit campuses running Superintendent Mike Miles' New Education System, and the district has burned through nearly $450 million in reserves.
Texas' largest school district is losing children through two doors at the same time. Some immigrant families, shaken by a surge in federal enforcement, have stopped sending their kids to class. Other parents have left because they reject the state-imposed overhaul of their schools. Since Texas distributes most school aid according to attendance, both departures drain the same account, and that account will eventually be handed back to Houston's elected trustees.
