Houston ISD follows mass educator layoffs with a teacher recruitment drive in South Texas

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Nov. 5, 2025

CONTACT: Nicole Hill, [email protected]

400 educators were let go or reassigned last month amid rapidly declining enrollment

HOUSTON, Texas -On Saturday, Nov. 8, Houston ISD will travel to Edinburg for an educator recruitment event. The flyers boast a "Teach in HISD" informational session, pre-screen interviews for prospective applicants, and conditional offers issued on-site. The outreach materials suggest certification is not required, leaving educators hired at this event - who would presumably need to relocate from South Texas to Houston - without meaningful job protections the next time the district decides to make staffing cuts.

At the start of the school year, HISD proudly announced that the district was nearly fully staffed after losing 2,300 educators at the end of last school year. Anticipating another enrollment decline of roughly 6,700 students this year, HISD laid off or reassigned almost 400 educators in what Houston Federation of Teachers President Jackie Anderson previously called "one of the biggest cuts I've seen in my tenure." The immediate pivot to additional hiring fairs further calls into question the necessity of the layoffs.

"Mike Miles's mismanagement of Houston ISD is driving families out of the district in droves, and educators are paying the price. At every turn, Miles refuses to build trust with the Houston community and instead decides to cut corners," said Jackie Anderson, president of HFT. "The district's mixed messages are destabilizing to educators. One day we're fully staffed, the next we learn about layoffs, and the day after that they're hiring again. This kind of disruption hurts Houston ISD students and disrespects educators who have faithfully served their community for years."

"Houston ISD's pattern is clear: Hire up uncertified teachers to boost staffing numbers at the start of the year, callously lay them off in October like they're dispensable, then hold hiring fairs outside of the community to fill the gaps. Rinse, wash, repeat. When enrollment drops like the district expects it to, we can expect this latest round of new hires to be first on the chopping block," said Zeph Capo, president of Texas AFT. "It's such an elaborate charade that you'd almost forget these are real people with rent to pay and families to feed, not just data points for Miles to manipulate to save face."

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Houston Federation of Teachers represents employees in Houston ISD. Our union represents all non-administrative public school employees. As such, our union's priorities reflect the interests of teachers, counselors, librarians, support professionals, and the people who make our public schools work.