The Houston Independent School District is one of the largest public school systems in the United States, grappling with some of the same issues of other large urban school systems while trying to address core problems.

In Houston, high school graduation rates demonstrate the educational disparity. For the 2009 graduating class, 87.4% of its white students graduated on time, but only 68.4% of African-American students and 65.9 percent of Hispanic or Latino students received their high school diplomas.

HISD is working to improve teacher instruction and management to close this achievement gap. The U.S. Department of Education has awarded a five-year $31.5 million Teacher Incentive Fund grant to HISD in order to support the district’s commitment to placing an effective teacher in every classroom and an effective principal in every school. The grant will support the development of new teacher and principal evaluation systems and the creation of new career pathways to help HISD leverage the talents of its most effective teachers and provide promotion opportunities to retain top talent.

Be a part of the local movement by getting involved with your local Waiting for “SUPERMAN” campaign.