Hundreds of Texas school districts have combined to illegally suspend thousands of students living without stable housing.
Asher Lehrer-Small
Asher Lehrer-Small is an education reporter covering Houston ISD for the Houston Landing. His work focuses on helping families understand how HISD policies and practices impact their children, holding district leaders accountable for providing a high-quality education and giving students a voice in their school experience. He previously spent three years covering schools for The 74, a nonprofit education news outlet, where he was recognized by the Education Writers Association as one of the top three education beat reporters in the nation working at a small newsroom. His work has appeared in The Boston Globe, Fast Company, The Guardian and other outlets. He graduated from Brown University after studying education policy, and he worked as a summer school math teacher in Providence, Rhode Island. Off the clock, you can find him tending to houseplants or frying up homemade donuts for a crowd.
Posted inEducation
Exclusive: Texas schools illegally suspended thousands of homeless students — and nobody stopped them
Hundreds of Texas school districts are violating a 2019 law that banned most suspensions of homeless kids, a Houston Landing investigation found.
Posted inEducation
Four Houstonians got suspended from school while homeless. Here’s how it changed their lives.
Now young adults, the former students recount missed opportunities and feelings of abandonment when school staff kicked them into the streets.
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Want your voice heard in HISD bond package process? Here’s the district’s plan.
Houston ISD leaders are starting the process of gathering community input on a bond proposal that could reach $5 billion.
Posted inEducation
HISD unveils plan to slash $500M from budget — but still doesn’t detail specific cuts
Houston ISD likely will cut a significant number of jobs and programs to slash $500 million in spending, yet administrators still aren’t outlining clear plans.
Posted inEducation
‘Find something else to cut’: HISD parents, local leaders knock plan to slash wraparound jobs
Some Houston ISD families and local advocates worry that students’ non-academic needs, such as food and clothing, will go unmet next school year following significant job cuts.
Posted inEducation
Houston ISD to cut more than 100 staff who serve students experiencing homelessness, hunger
An HISD administrator delivered the news to roughly 170 district staff, saying their roles will be cut at the end of June due to budget constraints.
Posted inEducation
HISD is eyeing a multibillion-dollar bond election. Here’s who stands to benefit the most.
Houston ISD’s youngest learners likely would see major upgrades to their elementary schools under a November bond aimed at updating outdated facilities.
Posted inEducation
‘A little bit confused’: HISD board tables Chinese university partnership vote
Houston ISD’s board of managers delayed a vote Thursday on approving support from a Chinese university, citing unanswered questions about the proposal.
Posted inEducation
HISD might ask taxpayers to back a multibillion-dollar bond. Is there time for community input?
Many school districts create a committee of local residents to shape a bond package, but Houston ISD Superintendent Mike Miles has yet to do so.