Miles gave the speech Tuesday at a luncheon hosted by the HISD Foundation — the district's nonprofit partner — before a crowd of several hundred employees, business leaders, educators and district partners.
"We're the hope that something can be done ... that we can close the gap fairly quickly and get our kids to where they need to be fairly quickly, and the hope that we will figure out how to get our kids in the best position possible to engage in the year 2030 and the year 2035 — a world and workplace that is AI-made," he said.
Miles shared updates on the district's growth on a key assessment — the Northwest Evaluation Association's Measures of Academic Progress — and the Texas Education Agency's A-F ratings, and previewed some programs and changes that he said HISD has launched to prepare students for 2035.
Miles did not directly discuss several of HISD's recent controversies, including the move to close 12 campuses, outsource management of four top-performing campuses under Senate Bill 1882, or its accelerated student enrollment loss, particularly at New Education System schools.
Here are three takeaways from Miles' third State of the District speech:
PREPARING STUDENTS FOR RISE IN AI
As Miles explained how the district was responding to the rapid growth of AI, he asked attendees how many of them were concerned about "an AI-enabled world and the changes that we have to make to get our kids ready for it?"
Several hands went up in the audience.
"If you're in my circle with former superintendents and other educators, a lot of people are talking about ... it's great that we're transforming the school system," Miles said. "What are we doing to get ready for an AI-enabled world? What is our responsibility for the kids?"
He listed several predictions of the future HISD's students will likely face, from accelerated pace of AI changes in the workforce, expanding school choice, further fragmentation of public education, resistance to change by large school systems and growing demand for high-skilled jobs.
"This is what's facing the whole education profession. This is what's facing all of us and the question is, 'Are we going to step up and do things differently for our students so that they are prepared?'" Miles said. "The answer in HISD is yes, that's what we're doing."
Miles said the district plans to break ground on an expansion of the Barbara Jordan Career Center this fall. A few months later, it will begin construction on another career center, called the Southside Launchpad, which will have programming focused on "AI-enabled professions" like cybersecurity, drones and health care, he said.
ACADEMIC IMPROVEMENT
Miles said the district's performance — particularly among Black and Hispanic students — has improved on the MAP exams during the state takeover. The national, adaptive exams measure academic achievement and growth in math, reading and science.
According to results, HISD's median achievement percentile was close to the national average score at the beginning of the 2023 school year. Since then, Miles said HISD's performance is "well above" the national average, with the largest gains in science.
Black and Hispanic students in HISD have seen the largest growth on the MAP exam, Miles said. Both groups — which had the lowest average scores on the initial exam — have posted at least 11-point gains since 2023. White and Asian students saw minor gains, but continue to score well above national and district averages.
"The intervention has not hurt — despite some people out there (saying so) — our highest-performing kids," Miles said. "Our highest-performing kids are doing even better, but we have a long way to go."
Miles also praised HISD's progress on the state's A-F accountability ratings during the state takeover. In the 2025 ratings, 197 of HISD schools earned an A or B — which is up from 93 two years ago — and zero schools received an F. Miles said the district still aims to have only A- and B-rated schools in 2027.
"That's not a pipe dream," Miles said. "We have the teachers and the principals who can get that done."
CLASSESS, PROGRAMS FOCUSED ON PROBLEM-SOLVING
Miles said the district plans to launch "Future 2 Schools," which he said is "the next evolution" of the New Education System and also focused on AI-skills. HISD plans to convert Gregg and Clemente Martinez elementary schools into K-8 campuses in the 2026-27 school year, where certain students will take courses focused on AI tools, design thinking and the study of cultures.
"Future 2 focuses ... on these activities and experiences that will help them with perspective, help them with critical thinking, help them with working in teams, learning how to learn, information literacy, problem-solving, decision-making (and) leadership — those things that we think will be important in a different world of workplace," Miles said.
Miles said that while HISD is not finished, the district is "way ahead" in its efforts to prepare students for the future, citing its "Art of Thinking" class. The class — which focuses on problem-solving and critical-thinking skills — is offered three times a week to students in third through tenth grades at 130 schools in the New Education System, its reform model.
"We haven't had to do this in public education in a long time," Miles said. "Just getting kids to read and write and do math at grade level was enough, and it was hard, but now we need to do more."
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