From the late 1980s, the district had experienced recurring financial and academic problems. In 1988 the TEA assigned a monitor to NFISD to deal with the school board and the finances; Ericka Mellon of the "Houston Chronicle" said that the school board was "meddling." On October 12, 1989, the "Houston Chronicle" printed an article, "North Forest district shows off its 'other' side in tour", about the district trying to create a positive impression in the media. The state again monitored the district in 2001. Ericka Mellon of the "Houston Chronicle" wrote in 2007: "The story has been the same for years in this small, poor, mostly black school district in northeast Houston: Financial problems, shoddy recordkeeping and low test scores prompt sanctions from the state. Employees get indicted on criminal charges. The school board fires the superintendent. The district might improve some but then falls again." Joshua Benton of "The Dallas Morning News" wrote the same year: "many ways, its schools are to Houston what the since-closed Wilmer-Hutchins schools were to Dallas: the ones that were always in trouble." John Sawyer, the head of the Harris County Department of Education, also compared North Forest to Wilmer-Hutchins, another predominantly black school district, which the state had closed.