Under threat of possible takeovers by the Texas Education Agency (TEA), nine school districts are set to hand over 15 public schools to Third Future Schools-Texas (TFS-Texas), a charter school operator previously run by state-appointed Houston ISD superintendent Mike Miles.
In recordings of school board meetings and interviews with the Texas Observer, some leaders of these districts report that they believed the nonprofit was the only operator that TEA would approve to run the schools—even though numerous other operators should be eligible.
On March 24, it took less than two hours for San Antonio’s Edgewood ISD board members to hear a presentation from TFS-Texas, then vote to hand over one of its middle schools to the private charter school network to run.
“What happens if we don’t go into this partnership?” board member Martha Castilla asked during the meeting.
“Then we’re at risk for state intervention,” replied Theresa Salinas, the district’s chief of innovation.
Under a 2017 law, Senate Bill 1882, public school districts can turn struggling schools over to private operators to unlock extra funding and avoid state takeover, which typically involves deposing the elected board and superintendent and installing new leaders, who may enact controversial reforms.
Michael Valdez, an Edgewood board member who cast the lone dissenting vote, told the Texas Observer he opposed the decision because, apart from one presentation at Brentwood Middle School, there was little community engagement or public notice before the decision. “There was not a lot of time,” Valdez said. Valdez added that, as of last Wednesday, he still had not seen a draft of the contract even after its approval.
Edgewood is one of nine Texas districts identified by the Observer that recently signed new agreements with TFS-Texas, making that nonprofit charter network one of the biggest players in the “Texas Partnerships” program inaugurated by SB 1882. As of early April, the nonprofit is set to run at least 19 campuses across 13 districts by the start of next school year. TFS-Texas is part of a network under a Colorado-based parent nonprofit, Third Future Schools, which Miles founded and helmed until he was installed in 2023 as Houston ISD’s superintendent by the TEA after the agency took over the state’s largest school district. Third Future Schools runs campuses in three states.
TFS-Texas has had a mixed record since it first began running schools in the state in 2020. The nonprofit faced media scrutiny two years ago from the Observer and other outlets over out-of-state fund transfers—though the TEA cleared the nonprofit of wrongdoing in an investigation—and the Observer more recently reported on accusations the organization failed to teach required classes in Midland. In 2024, a TFS-Texas contract with Ector County ISD was not renewed, and last year the nonprofit ended its partnership with Beaumont ISD (which is being taken over by the state for the second time).
TFS-Texas is expanding its presence at a time when the threat of state takeover looms over more public school districts. The TEA can take over a school district if just one school has a failing rating for five consecutive years. Between October and a March 31 program deadline, school leaders in Wichita Falls, Texarkana, Hempstead, Everman, Midland, Waco, Killeen, San Antonio, and Edgewood school districts all signed agreements for so-called 1882 partnerships with TFS-Texas. In return, the districts receive a two-year reprieve from state sanctions and get access to extra funding.
Four preexisting TFS-Texas partnerships—in Jasper, Midland, Wichita Falls, and Manor ISDs—will continue into next year.
But others have ended their relationship with the company. In Austin, Mendez School will no longer be under TFS-Texas control next year and will revert to district control, while Lamar Elementary in Midland will be turned into a disciplinary alternative education program school. The previous partnerships in Ector County and Beaumont ended with mixed academic results. In Ector County, TFS-Texas raised one high school’s state accountability rating from an F to a B, but the school then backslid after the charter left. In Beaumont, the nonprofit terminated its partnership leaving behind two of three campuses with failing ratings, one of which triggered the second state takeover.
The TEA did not respond to repeated requests for comment for this article, and Third Future Schools declined to respond.
Wichita Falls, near the Texas-Oklahoma border, was among five school districts—in addition to Beaumont, Connally, Lake Worth, and Fort Worth—to reach the threshold for potential state takeover last year after school accountability ratings were released. On June 10, 2025, the district entered into a partnership with TFS-Texas to run Hirschi Middle School starting in the 2025-26 school year. On October 13, the board voted to expand the partnership to include two more schools—Booker T. Washington and Southern Hills elementary schools.
Wichita Falls’ gamble appears to have allowed their elected school board and superintendent to avoid being deposed by the state. On March 5, the Texas Education Agency decided not to take over Wichita Falls. Instead, it will appoint a conservator to monitor the district. TEA will pursue its takeover of the other four school districts beginning with the 2026-27 school year.
“We were the only outlier. And the reason is: We did the right thing,” Wichita Falls Superintendent Donny Lee told the Observer in an interview. “We’ve been doing this work since 2022, setting the stage, getting everything ready, almost eight months of planning to bring in Third Future, visiting Third Future campuses, then finally going out for the request for information for Third Future, then getting them on board.”
The TEA previously told the Observer that the agency has no authority over which partner the district selects. In a statement, spokesperson Jake Kobersky told the Observer, “TEA does not approve the selection of the entity by the district as part of the approval process but rather did the district meet all SB 1882 application requirements.”
Around 50 charter operators have taken over schools under the SB 1882 program. But during several recent meetings, district leaders told trustees and community members that Third Future was the TEA’s only approved or recognized partner for districts to enter into 1882 agreements with to turn around struggling campuses. (In some cases, Third Future was the only organization to apply in response to a district callout.)
During a February 17 board meeting, San Antonio ISD deputy superintendent Patti Salzmann told board members during a presentation about Third Future Schools that “They are the one turnaround in Texas that’s approved by the Texas Education Agency,” according to a video of the meeting.
In an interview, Alejandra Lopez, president of the teachers’ union, the San Antonio Alliance, told the Observer, “The board made it clear at the board meeting that they were being pressured or threatened by TEA … that the district is under threat of takeover if they don’t make some pretty big changes, and Third Future is the only authorized turnaround partner from TEA.”
Lopez said that, with little notice, San Antonio ISD trustees decided to close Rhodes Middle School and transfer its students to Tafolla Middle School for TFS-Texas to run starting next year. Hirsch and Ogden elementary schools are also set to be under TFS-Texas control. All three of these schools are in poorer areas on San Antonio’s West Side.
Board members had previously voted to ensure 75 percent of parents at each of these schools would be engaged in the decision-making process, but Lopez said that seemed to have been dismissed. “It just really speaks to the fact that they are willing to abandon any kind of engagement with the community, even a month after they voted to mandate it.”
San Antonio ISD already has the most 1882 partnerships out of all Texas school districts, according to an investigation by the Observer. But under most of its existing partnerships, the district still controls employees’ wage and relations. This time, the school board ceded virtually all financial and operational control of the three schools to TFS-Texas, according to drafts of the partnership contracts posted on the district’s website.
“Third Future Schools will manage the day-to-day operations of the campus, including hiring staff and implementing its instructional model and curriculum. SAISD remains ultimately responsible for the school’s academic performance and state accountability rating,” Laura Short, a San Antonio ISD spokesperson told the Observer.
On February 17, board members of the Central Texas district Killeen ISD voted to turn over Manor Middle School to TFS-Texas.
According to a video of the board meeting, board member Marvin Rainwater addressed Killeen Superintendent Terri Osborne, saying “You presented rigorous requirements for this and this is the only charter school in the state of Texas that’s recognized by TEA that does this.”
Osborne replied: “Yes, sir. That’s correct.”
In an interview, Rainwater told the Observer, “I guess the decision-making part was, are we going to go with Third Future? Or are we going to try again and roll the dice with the agency taking over and let those guys come in and replace the board?”
Rainwater said the board made the decision “at a crisis time [based on] what we thought was best for our students,” but he’s concerned about the program’s sustainability. “I just don’t see how this is a lasting remedy for our kids.”
In an interview, Waco ISD superintendent Tiffany Spicer told the Observer that TEA provided only two choices for an 1882 partner for the 2026-27 school year. “We heard that another one is possible, but I hadn’t heard of them from too many people. We had not received too much feedback on them and who they partnered with throughout the state.”
The Wichita Falls superintendent, Lee, told the Observer that Third Future “has done a good job at Hirschi for us in terms of the metrics,” which informed the board’s decision. Test scores have gone up, he said.
During an October 13 board meeting, Debbie Dipprey, who was then the district’s director of school administration, described another aspect of the partnership to board members, “There’s not a lot of room for differences,” Dipprey said. “You’re talking about an extended school day, extended school year, extended blocks for reading and math … less time in social studies, less time in electives, less time in science classes.”
The post Mike Miles’ Former Charter School Network Expands Its Footprint in Texas appeared first on The Texas Observer.
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