It’s almost like the Houston Chronicle literally hates Houstonians and wants them to fail — especially our children in the public school system. And that is truly shocking.
There was a time when a city’s newspaper rooted for the city it covered. It celebrated its successes, demanded accountability when things went wrong, and above all wanted the people who lived there to succeed. Apparently, nobody told the Houston Chronicle.
Houston is one of America’s great success stories. We’re diverse, we’re entrepreneurial, we build things, and we create jobs. But when Houston’s success contradicts The Chronicle’s preferred political narrative, it seems almost disappointed. Nowhere is that more disturbing than what’s happening in Houston’s public schools. We’re talking about our children. We’re talking about kids who deserve a great education regardless of their ZIP code, their parents’ income or the politics of the adults running the school system.
The state of Texas took over Houston Independent School District in 2023 after years of serious problems. Was the takeover controversial? Of course. Should the people running HISD be scrutinized? Absolutely. But ultimately there is one question that matters more than all the political noise: Are Houston’s kids doing better? The answer is yes.
Three years into the intervention, test scores across grades and subjects have soared, in many cases by double digits. Teacher pay is up. A massive budget deficit has been reduced by roughly 90 percent. Schools that struggled for years are improving, like Phyllis Wheatley High School, Booker T. Washington High School, or Charles Milby High School, which serve historic black and Hispanic communities. This year, all three received “A” ratings from the Texas Education Agency.
This is one of the biggest education success stories in America. The reforms the Chronicle opposed are producing results the Chronicle apparently doesn’t want to acknowledge. So instead of celebrating Houston’s kids, the newspaper went hunting for something — anything — negative.
And it found it.
Orange traffic cones. Yes, while Houston schools were producing remarkable academic gains, the Chronicle devoted coverage to students using orange traffic cones as bathroom passes. You couldn’t write the parody better than reality.
The Chronicle’s editorial board has also repeatedly suggested that district and state officials somehow “cooked the books” to make school ratings look better than they are. It’s a fascinating standard. When schools failed under the old system, we’re told the answer is more money, more patience and fewer expectations. When schools improve under reforms the Chronicle dislikes, suddenly we’re supposed to question whether the improvement is real.
At some point you have to ask: What exactly is the Chronicle rooting for? Because it sure doesn’t look like it is rooting for Houston’s kids. And that’s what makes this more than just another disagreement between conservatives and a liberal newspaper. These are children. If kids who were previously trapped in failing schools are suddenly reading better, learning more, and attending higher-performing schools, every adult in Houston should be cheering them on.
The fact that The Chronicle seems incapable of doing that tells you just how deep its ideological obsession has become. And the disconnect doesn’t stop with education.
Look at crime. The Chronicle says it supports keeping dangerous people accused of violent crimes off Houston’s streets. Then comes the fine print. It wants prosecutors to meet substantial evidentiary requirements before defendants can be detained. The Chronicle wants judges producing written findings. It wants appeals. It wants additional “critical guardrails.” Apparently what Houston’s criminal justice system really needs is more paperwork.
Here’s my position: Just put bad guys in jail. If someone with a serious criminal history is charged with another violent crime and a judge determines that person represents a danger to the community, protecting innocent Houstonians should be the priority.
Then we get to everyone’s favorite subject: Taxes. The Houston Chronicle has apparently never encountered a tax, fee or government assessment it couldn’t learn to love. The paper has backed vape taxes, hotel occupancy taxes, and real estate fees to fund more government spending on homelessness. The paper even backed a garbage-collection fee. That’s appropriate. If I’m paying extra for garbage pickup, maybe the city can haul away my Chronicle at the same time.
Legacy newspapers have been bleeding readers for years, and they love blaming technology, social media, changing consumer habits and everything else imaginable. I’m sure all of those things matter. But here’s another possibility: Maybe people got tired of paying to be insulted.
Maybe they got tired of being told that successful schools aren’t successful because the reforms don’t fit the editorial board’s politics. Maybe they got tired of newspapers telling them that criminals deserve endless consideration while taxpayers deserve another bill. Maybe they got tired of newspapers treating common sense like extremism.
