Evan Vitale Consulting: Former DISD Superintendent Miles launches consulting company

Saturday, August 22, 2015

Former DISD Superintendent Miles launches consulting company – Dallas Morning News

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Mike Miles abruptly quit as Dallas ISD’s superintendent in June. He gave a few days notice before flying back to Colorado Springs to be with his family.

Miles said on his way out that he would start a consulting company, and he has done just that.

The company is called Third Future. Those who know Miles won’t find the name surprising as some of his DISD documents made references to Star Trek and the future. He named the Dallas ISD improvement plan “Destination 2020.”

Miles is listed as co-founder of Third Future on the company’s “who we are” page. It says he started the company after serving for three years as DISD superintendent. He touts implementing the pay-for-performance teacher and principal evaluation systems, expanding public school choice and developing a strong early-childhood program while in Dallas.

The company borrows heavily from material created during Miles’ time in Dallas. For example, under Third Future’s “resources” page, the “principal evaluation concept paper” is a near duplicate of one on DISD’s website.

Third Future makes no secret of where it got its resource information. For the concept paper, it says: “While this document was drafted for the evaluation system implemented in Dallas, it can be tailored for use in other districts.”

Some familiar names are listed as Miles’ team members: Karon Cofield (DISD assistant superintendent); Luz Martinez (Sunset High School principal) and Shirley Miles, Mike Miles’ sister. It wasn’t immediately known if Cofield and Martinez are still DISD employees. On a July 30 list of DISD principals, Martinez was still listed as Sunset’s principal.

Miles, who touts being a reformer, didn’t produce significant academic gains during his time in Dallas. Scores on the STAAR exams mostly stayed flat or dropped under his watch. He addressed the plight of reformers on his company’s blog:

“The last couple of years have been tough for educational reformers. As a friend of mine put it, ‘The reform community is suffering from a low-grade depression.’ As a profession, we seem to be adrift among changing priorities and an ability to make significant academic improvement or to help students prepare for a fundamentally different workplace. Across the country, there has been retrenchment or confusion regarding more rigorous standards.”

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