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Houston Needs a Fresh Start For Public Education

May 17, 2011 by Jeremy Jones

When I first moved to Houston, I despised the place. I mean, lets be honest, the traffic is tantamount to the 6th circle of Hates, August and September heat/humidity do more to drive a person insane than Fran Dresher’s voice, and there are three Starbucks on one corner of our city giving credence to the idea that River Oaks is saturated with self-indulgence. I grew up in the Austin area and come to Houston by way of New Orleans as a Hurricane Katrina refugee. I was leaving behind one of America’s most beloved cultural paradises between Lake Pontchartrain and the Mississippi river for our country’s fourth largest city overflowing with rivers of concrete and a flood of sprawl. I was forced to confront some deep cultural expectations: no one from Austin ever moves east to that big city on the bayou. I was here almost against my will in the winter of 2006 determined to finish my commitment with Teach For America and hastily say goodbye to a city that I had no intention of wedding.

The summer of 2011 is looming. It is five and a half years later. I am still in Houston. Over time, my perspective has changed a bit, maybe a lot actually. I even find myself defending this city with passionate vigor from time to time, especially in heated arguments that ensue when “Yankee carpet baggers” exclaim how much they wouldn’t mind seeing the city implode. I am always an ardent defender of Texas, but never thought I would defend Houston.

houston skyline photo from allen parkway by jeremy jones At its core, Houston is a city that will return to you what you give it. I am beginning a new series on our blog about Houston and why, despite all common sense, people should give us a chance and at least pretend to like us, even for a little bit or in the smallest of ways. I intend to shed some light on Houston’s unique culture and anit-culture and invite other folks to share their thoughts as well. We will have some guest writers and my intention is to, much like the website and book series Houston Its Worth It, celebrate what makes the space city a great place to live. Those who are willing to put in the effort will be rewarded.
Being the first blog in this series, I feel like I should start with the most basic of ground rules that I will encourage any resident or visitor to head: Houston is what you make of it. Your experience in Houston will be as limited or expansive as you want it to be. A lifetime spent between the intersections of West Gray and Shepherd to Kirby and 59 won’t do much for you. You will miss the pallet exploding flavors of venison hot dogs at Moon Tower. You’ll never have created your own masterpiece at Pinot’s Palette and the Art Car Parade will just be something of local Houston lore. You will have missed out on the beer can house and White Linen. You will have never sampled the temales at Ninfas and Discovery Green will have never made an impression on you.

Living here isn’t always easy. Houston has some major problems all of which are not man made nor can be mitigated by our ingenuity. However, it is a city of endless possibility and fresh beginnings. In fact, Sam Houston himself, Texas’s first president and governor, was a newcomer to the nascent country, hailing from Tennessee and attracted by a promise of a new future. I am here for profound and catastrophic reasons, but I have found a fresh start here as well. After thinking that my time in education would have a horizon of three years before policy school, I find myself still here, still trying to refresh what is possible in public education. Finally, our education community is working to find a fresh start here. From big changes in HISD to the innovation in charter schools and organizations that support closing the achievement gap, we are seeking a way to press the restart button and give our children the ability to set their own life paths, to create a new beginning for their futures.

Over the course of this series, we hope to share what makes Houston special and celebrate our city the right way: from locals who still work to discover and create new beginnings here. We hope that you enjoy our series and we are looking forward to hearing from you about your favorite and not so favorite things about Houston. Please read our series on the Y Houston blog and leave us a comment!

Jeremy Jones is the Senior Director of Recruitment and Selection for the YES Prep Public Schools. He is a 2005 Teach For America New Orleans Alum and taught middle school mathematics. You can email him at teach@yesprep.org.