Lucio Vasquez / Houston Public Media
Houston Federation of Teachers building on Sutherland St. Taken on March 9, 2020.
The Houston Federation of Teachers (HFT) is celebrating Judge Cheryl Elliott Thornton’s decision to issue a partial temporary injunction against Houston ISD over how it’s doling out state-funded raises for educators.
HFT, the largest teachers’ union in Houston, sued the district earlier this summer and requested an injunction to prevent HISD from issuing raises based on performance rather than tenure.
In the ruling filed Saturday, in which Thornton granted part of the injunction request while denying another as the lawsuit continues to play out, she wrote that HISD’s performance-based raises may differ from the ordered usage by the state under House Bill 2, an $8.5 billion funding package for Texas public schools.
The injunction comes on the heels of Houston ISD Superintendent Mike Miles being awarded a $173,660 bonus based on his annual performance evaluation. Miles and a state-appointed board of managers were installed in June 2023 by the Texas Education Agency, which intervened because an HISD high school received a streak of failing accountability ratings from the state.
“It’s poetic justice,” HFT president Jackie Anderson said Wednesday. “If (Miles) thinks that he deserves a $82,000 raise and $173,000 bonus, which puts his salary well over $600,000, why doesn’t he think the people in the trenches should get a raise as well?”
The HISD press office did not immediately respond to a request for comment about the injunction.