Mike Miles

F. Mike Miles is the current appointed superintendent of Houston Independent School District. He previously served as the superintendent of the Dallas Independent School District (DISD) from July 1, 2012 to June 25, 2015, and previously in Colorado Springs.

Miles was a ranger in the United States Army and worked in the U.S. State Department. In his educational career he served as a superintendent for Harrison School District 2 in Colorado Springs. Miles operated an educational consulting firm called Focal Point while in that position. The business wound down after he became Dallas ISD superintendent as his contract for DISD restricted his outside activities. In Colorado Springs he tied teacher and principal pay to gains in student achievement. Another plan, Accelerating Campus Excellence" (ACE) involved moving new principals and teachers into campuses and attracting high-performing teachers to needy campuses.

Dallas County Commissioner John Wiley Price criticized Miles and called for his ouster. Miles' family initially moved from Colorado Springs to Dallas, but they returned to Colorado Springs in 2013 as a result of media attention on Miles' career.

In 2014 Miles expressed a desire to get additional compensation in his contract. Miles attempted to get amendments to his Dallas ISD contract but the board did not approve them. Miles resigned from Dallas ISD in 2015.

Post-Dallas ISD

Third Future Schools After Miles resigned from Dallas ISD, he founded a new chain of charter schools based in Colorado called Third Future Schools. Third Future Schools consists of 11 public charter schools in Colorado, Texas, Louisiana, and Tennessee. In 2024, Spectrum News reported that Miles funneled millions of dollars of Texas public school funding to his Colorado-based charter school network, prompting an investigation by the Texas Education Agency. Mike Morath, who appointed Miles as superintendent of HISD, explained that Third Future Schools is not considered a Texas charter school and receives funding through performance contracts with school districts. HISD employee terminations, and accusations of misuse of funds. Protests occurred at Houston City Hall and multiple HISD schools. HISD has seen significant staff turnover since Miles' appointment, with more than 10,000 employees leaving as of June 2024. In August 2023, his administration sought various policy changes to increase Miles' authority, including an increase in the purchasing threshold requiring board approval from $100,000 to $2 million. In response to significant pushback, the approval threshold was reduced to $1 million and approved by the board of managers. In January 2025, HISD revealed that the administration made $870 million in purchases between August 2023 and December 2024 without seeking proper board approval.