Early Friday morning, students at Wheatley High School walked past a colorful sign celebrating the school's "A" accountability rating as they made their way to the Fifth Ward campus.
At Finnigan Park across the street, some students in light of the achievement pushed back on claims Wheatley kids couldn't read or write. Others acknowledged some of their friends had difficulties with the subjects.
All of them disagreed with the choice earlier this week by Darius Williams, who according to Wheatley's online staff directory is a career and technical education teacher at the school, to broadcast the issue on his social media channels. He reported his senior students struggled with reading and writing skills during the first week of the school year.
Michael Jackson, a 17 year-old junior at Wheatley, shared he can read and write though sometimes struggles with longer and more difficult vocabulary words. But he said Williams was "lying" in his video.
"It's just not right," Jackson said. "Why would you embarrass somebody’s kids? Because if you know kids can’t read, can’t write – why would you go on social media and embarrass the whole kids like that? That’s not right."
The clip of Williams breaking down while talking about his students quickly went viral, garnering more than 4.9 million views.
"I simply don't know where the problem is," he said in the video he posted. "This is only day two, and I have seniors who simply cannot read and seniors who cannot write."
Just a few days later, Wheatley High School celebrated its first "A" accountability rating from the Texas Education Agency.
At a school board meeting Thursday, state-appointed Superintendent Mike Miles gave a blunt reaction to the video and its allegations.
"We’ve always had this," Miles said. "Four years ago, it was worse. There were more 11th graders and 12th graders who could not read at grade level and do math at grade level. So it’s serious business."
History of struggle
The claim that some seniors at Wheatley cannot read or write renewed concerns over a 2023 state takeover of the district, which was triggered by Wheatley's academic performance and included Miles' appointment as the leader of Texas' largest school district. Wheatley is one of the many HISD campuses that are part of Miles' "New Education System" model, which has come under criticism for its rigid instruction style while also coinciding with improved scores on standardized tests.
In 2019, Wheatley received its seventh consecutive F rating, which set into motion the state takeover of HISD. No districts or schools in Texas were rated in 2020 or 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. In 2022, Wheatley returned with a C rating and fell to a D in 2023, but by 2024 the campus earned a B rating.
RELATED: 4 HISD schools receive F ratings, Mike Miles says, a year after there were no failing campuses
While Wheatley received its first A rating during the 2025-26 school year, its reading scores also appeared to be on the rise. The school's STAAR passing rates in English I and English II were up by 15% and 9% percentage points, respectively, in 2026 when compared to the passing rates in 2023 before the takeover began.
In the spring of 2026, 62% of the Wheatley students who were tested passed the STAAR in English I, while 63% passed in English II.
When asked by reporters about Williams' allegations, Miles replied, "Is that new information? I don't think that's new information."
"That is why we are here," he added. "That's why we're doing something about the fact that students can't read."
In a statement toHouston Public Media, the Houston ISD press office wrote, "We know some students enter high school significantly below grade level, and helping those students accelerate their learning is among our most important responsibilities.
"At Wheatley High School, students have made significant academic gains, demonstrating that strong instruction, high expectations and targeted support are making a difference. At the same time, we know there are students who need additional academic support, and we will continue working with our teachers and school leaders to ensure those students receive it."
A broader literacy problem?
Alexis Salgado, a junior at Wheatley, said she knew of classmates who struggled to draft essays and complete more advanced English assignments, but added that those students could read. She hoped the widely publicized video by Williams would bring more support and help to the students at her school.
Salgado said at times she has struggled herself. She said at Wheatley she does not read books, but instead her classes focus on reading and understanding shorter passages – an approach that has been heavily criticized. Superintendent Mike Miles has said the New Education System feature shorter reading passages rather than longform literature. In 2024, Miles argued the curriculum represents “the best way” to teach reading and that students can read full books outside of school.
Placido Gomez, an elected Houston ISD trustee who has no voting power on the board because of the ongoing state intervention, said it was inappropriate for Wililams to post his concerns to social media. But the emotions Williams displayed in the video resonated with Gomez.
Gomez said during his time as a math teacher in San Antonio and Weslaco, he encountered students who did not have basic math skills. He called the situation where some Wheatley students could not read or write a "reality" and said the district is prioritizing testing to the students' detriment.
"The state government shares some blame because the state government is incentivizing, is not just incentivizing, but threatening school districts and saying if you don’t get these standardized test scores where we want them to be, we might take over your school district, we might impose more sanctions," Gomez said. "So, schools are highly, highly, highly incentivized to focus on passing the STAAR exam. If that’s the main focus, if that’s the only thing that schools are incentivized to focus on, they’re just going to miss out on more book reading, being able to understand great literature and the problems that Mr. Williams talked about in that video will continue to persist."
RELATED: STAAR scores are out. Houston ISD posts strongest gains in Algebra I and English I
The potential revelation that some seniors at Wheatley cannot read or write renewed concerns over the takeover's effectiveness and also speak to broad concerns over national literacy rates. The National Assessment of Education Progressreported in 2024 that just 35% of high school seniors are proficient in reading.
But correcting reading deficiencies in high schoolers may require intervention long before those students reach that level.
A report from the Annie E. Casey Foundation found reading proficiency is a make-or-break benchmark in a child's education. Literacy experts say third grade is an inflection point in education when students transition from learning to read to reading to learn. According to The Reading Foundation, 74% of struggling readers will never catch up.
In June, STAAR results showed that while overall performance continues to surpass pre-pandemic levels, 72% of third graders in HISD are passing STAAR exams. That includes students who are "approaching" grade-level standards, while 52% of third graders in the district "meet" their grade-level expectations.
Questions about the messenger
As Williams' video racked up millions of views and prompted news stories from national outlets, comments expressing concern about his previous business practices followed.
Before moving to Houston, Williams worked in various businesses in Atlanta, including a credit repair service and as an online celebrity chef under the account "DariusCooks."
In 2019, Georgia Attorney General Chris Carr announced a $147,750 settlement with Above70, which was at the time run by Williams. Carr alleged the business, a credit repair shop, violated the Georgia Fair Business Practice Act. Credit repair shops are generally illegal in Georgia for selling services with unpredictable outcomes. Williams was also accused of accepting payments and then not rendering services as well as making misleading claims and promises to customers.
Two years later, in 2021, the Fox 5 Atlanta news outlet reported the Better Business Bureau (BBB) issued a warning to customers about doing business with the online chef. According to the BBB, dozens of complaints were filed by customers who said they bought cookbooks, cookware or tickets to Williams' cooking events, but then they never received the products or services.
Williams has nearly 4 million followers across his social media platforms. After his initial video about his students went viral, Williams posted a second video denying his past disqualified him from teaching, said he passed all background checks required to work in a public school and said he was working toward becoming a state-certified teacher in Texas.
On Friday afternoon, when Miles visited Wheatley to recognize the school's A accountability rating, Williams attended the celebration and sat alone in the back of the auditorium.
When approached by Houston Public Media, Williams said, "I'm sorry, can't talk. I don't think it's wise."
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