Texas state lawmakers, local leaders and others want answers in the wake of a new report alleging millions of taxpayer dollars were diverted out of Texas to help balance the books at Colorado charter schools. These are schools founded by Houston ISD superintendent Mike Miles joins us from the newsroom with more on this latest controversy involving Hisd state appointed leadership to be clear. This is not involved Hisd money but the report focuses on the man hand picked to run the state's largest district. Mike Miles was appointed to run Houston schools by the Texas education Agency last year but started these Colorado charter schools and other charter schools here in Texas under the name. Third future schools back between 2015 and 2020. Now, an investigative report from spectrum news, Texas is raising questions about how those charter schools were funded. The report alleges that the color charter schools were in the red and facing millions of dollars in debts simultaneously. The report claims that Texas charters were receiving millions in taxpayer funding and that third future schools in Colorado was having their debts offset with money from Texas. The report highlights a pair of million dollar plus checks sent from the Texas schools to Colorado. Today, we reached out to Houston ISD for a response from Superintendent Miles. They did not respond. We also asked the TE A for its own response since it was the agency which appointed Miles to his post here. Just a few minutes ago. A rep said, quote, TE A is aware of the report and is reviewing the matter. We mentioned concerns from local and state leaders and lawmakers. Today. Harris county commissioner Rodney Ellis shared a statement it reads in part, this also calls into question every dollar he has spent as superintendent while teacher benefits are being slashed, libraries are being closed and support staff are being let go. Hisd parents and taxpayers deserve a robust and timely investigation to ensure that tax dollars are being used appropriately and ethically. State representatives, Jarvis Johnson and Gene Wu, also critical of Miles today. Wu saying on Twitter, quote, the level of corruption is genuinely impressive. Meanwhile, we spoke with Johnson this afternoon. He has to go. I have written a letter to the governor. I've written a letter to Mike Moran and I've, uh I've written a letter personally to, to Mike Miles and asked Mike Miles to step down and asked the governor to, to, to uh um to terminate the contract. The Houston Federation of Teachers also out with a comment this afternoon, they're calling for Miles resignation and a federal criminal investigation.
