HOUSTON—The executive board of the Houston Federation of Teachers voted to support the school improvement plan proposed by Superintendent Richard Carranza and recommends passage by the district’s board of trustees.

“We are concerned that educators will view Achieve 180 as Apollo 2.0, and we believe that would be a mistake,” said HFT President Zeph Capo. “There are several differences with Achieve 180, not the least of which is the fact that it will not result in the massive school disruptions brought about by the Apollo program.”

Capo said the Achieve 180 plan is smart public policy for students that will provide experienced teachers and wraparound services to help remove barriers to learning. This plan is also smart policy for taxpayers, he said. Coordinating services for students both creates efficiencies in delivery and leverages tax dollars with partner agency funds so schools can do more with less. “It seems under this plan that HISD will avoid the extremely high hidden cost overruns by being strategic with staffing decisions,” Capo said. “Wholesale reconstitution of schools is not only disruptive, but very expensive.”

While the HFT supports this plan, it recognizes that the real work is in the implementation. Several areas have been identified that need additional discussion, such as increased inclusion of our support staff and recognition of their important work supporting students, increasing teacher voice and ensuring that any additional collaborative time is focused on the instructional improvement needs identified by the teachers themselves.