Houston school district trying to woo parents while losing students amid school choice competition
Houston Independent School District (HISD) has to win back parents as more appear to be turning away from large urban school districts across the country.
"If you've been looking at the national statistics, a lot of places have experienced enrollment loss. In Houston, right after COVID, this district lost 15,000 kids that didn't come back," HISD Superintendent Mike Miles told Fox News Digital.
"A lot of districts lost a lot of kids, and they never came back," Miles added.
HISD presides over 274 schools and 184,109 students. Historically the largest school district in Texas, despite some fluctuations in recent years after COVID, the district touted academic progress across all grades and subjects and "more than doubled the number of A and B rated schools in just two years."
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"Additionally, the District is retaining its best and most effective teachers. Last year, more than 84% of teachers rated Proficient I or above and 89% of teachers rated Exemplary I returned for the 2025-2026 school year," a district spokesperson told Fox News Digital.
However, despite its success, the rise of school choice policies has forced public school districts to compete. Charter schools have intensified that competition because they aren’t regulated the same way as traditional public schools. Most states restrict parents to schools within their ZIP code or district, but charter schools give families alternatives. Additionally, more parents are choosing to homeschool their children since the coronavirus pandemic.
"We're looking forward to capturing some of the kids who may have gone to charter schools and getting them back," Miles told Fox News Digital. "I think we're getting to a point where we will be competing well with any other school, charter, voucher, virtual, private, and that's we're trying to do," he added.
HISD reported a significant drop last week. Houston Public Media obtained a document from the district confirming that their enrollment declined more significantly last year than officials expected. Houston Independent School District lost 8,300 students this year, totaling more than 16,000 students leaving the state’s largest school district over the past two years, according to the Houston Chronicle.
"What we do know aligns with larger national and statewide patterns. Large urban non-charter districts across Texas are experiencing enrollment drops, while suburban and rural districts are seeing increases," a district spokesperson told Fox News Digital.
School districts across the country — especially in urban areas — have experienced enrollment declines. Texas is among several states enacting universal school choice legislation in response to parents seeking alternatives to traditional public schools. The state created an Education Savings Account program with an initial $1 billion investment.
The legislation introduces new competition into the education landscape, giving parents options outside the neighborhood school their child is zoned for — posing challenges for districts struggling to retain students.
HISD told Fox News Digital that "there is no single cause for enrollment decline." Miles echoed that point, citing multiple issues driving the drop, including challenges facing large metropolitan areas — rising housing costs, poverty, and declining birth rates.
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"The biggest loss in enrollment was pre-K, first and second grade. And you already know that in the United States, but also in Texas and in Houston, demographics are changing. In other words, we don't have as many kids born here. That's one, so the birth rate has declined, and you can see that in our earlier grades having an impact," Miles said.
"Houston is one of the poorest cities in the nation," he continued. "The poverty rate is high and people move because of changes in the market. People who have fewer resources often are more impacted by increases in inflation or just property … What's different in Houston is that we are now experiencing such good academic growth."
Teachers unions often criticize school choice policies, saying they siphon per-pupil funding from traditional public schools by allowing parents to opt out of their neighborhood campuses. Critics argue that money taken away from those schools could instead be used to raise teacher pay, improve facilities, and recruit more educators.
The Trump administration has made strides in expanding school choice nationwide. Among them is instituting a federal tax credit scholarship, giving individuals across the country an opportunity to support school choice programs within their states, circumventing anti-school choice measures.