Brandie Dowda is a veteran teacher who has spent eight years in the classroom. She has a master’s degree and is a library expert who suddenly found herself without a library to work in.
“Because my campus became (a New Education System school), they don’t have staffed libraries, and the libraries were converted into team centers,” Dowda said.
With no job progression in sight, she made the hard decision to leave the district and work elsewhere.
“It was a rough year. I’m really happy in my new position in my new district, but when (Superintendent Mike) Miles leaves, and he will at some point, when we have our autonomy back, I would be happy to come back to HISD to rebuild the library program,” Dowda said.
SEE ALSO: More resignations from HISD leadership posts as TEA takeover looms
Dowda wasn’t the only one to make this choice. According to Houston ISD, 2,634 teachers resigned from the district in the 2022-23 school year, a huge jump from the school year before the TEA took over, when there were 1,023 resignations.