Divided She Stands

He also blames Parrott for distributing an unsigned letter that called him a "Mafia Thug," claimed he had fathered an illegitimate son and identified him as a drunk. Parrott denies any link to the letter, which was handed out at a school board meeting. But trustee Staff, who says a legally blind elderly woman with close ties to Parrott gave her the letter last year, blames Parrott for its dissemination. "I doubted that Ms. [Dorothy] Ellsworth could produce such trash," Staff said in an e-mail to Rojas. Ellsworth insists she didn't include the "Thug" letter in a packet of newspaper articles about Rojas, and Parrott denies any knowledge of it. Still, the letter is another addition to a dossier of dubiously sourced material that has materialized from time to time when Parrott enters the fray.

Rojas' attorney, Jeff Tillotson, goes further in his criticisms of Parrott: He says she has a shaky grip on objective reality. During a recent deposition, he says, she laughed repeatedly and asked him in Clinton-esque fashion to define the word "lie." "See for yourself on what planet she is currently living," Tillotson says, pointing to some elliptical responses during her deposition. Parrott calls Tillotson's criticisms a "diversion" and insists her question was valid because truth means different things to different people.

What's more, documents obtained by the Dallas Observer show several instances of questionable behavior and harassment of DISD staff by Parrott. In one instance, she threatened to file a state ethics complaint against a staff member who urged her not to release to the media information from closed-door sessions of the school board involving its lawyer. On another occasion, she browbeat a communications official who refused to write a press release denying she used DISD funds to send out a political newsletter.

In the midst of the criticisms, Parrott has retained a cadre of loyal backers who value her as a strong, independent voice. "The board wants to punish Lois," says the Reverend L. Charles Stovall, a United Methodist minister and local head of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference. "I think they should throw roses at her feet and apologize. She really knew in her heart that to sign off on that contract was wrong." Says District 3 resident Robert Neubrand: "She's fighting an uphill battle, trying to get corruption out."

But the sheer number of questionable incidents surrounding Parrott causes others to doubt her fitness for office. With DISD's and Rojas' lawyers moving in, Parrott's political moment of truth has arrived, and no one in a position of power is rushing to save her. By all appearances, most board members are secretly delighted that she's up against the wall. Former trustee Plata puts it bluntly. "She deservedly needs to pay," he says.

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Downtown in the basement of the George L. Allen Sr. Courts Building are four thick binders that hold case No. 00-0858-G, Stovall v. Edison Schools, Inc.--the Edison Schools case. Despite the case file's expanding girth, this is one lawsuit that, absent an appeal, appears to be nearing a close.

On July 23, Lois Parrott attended a Monday-morning hearing on the legal fees the board wants her to pay in state District Judge Anne Ashby's 134th Civil District Court. Sitting next to her: fellow plaintiffs Harry Trujillo, a Hispanic activist and tax preparer; Stovall, an African-American civil rights advocate; and former DISD trustee Don Venable, a fellow maverick.

The unlikely group assembled after realizing they all loathed the Edison contract. Also present were Daniel Ortiz, a lawyer for Classroom Teachers of Dallas, which joined the suit to ensure that DISD benefits covered Edison instructors; and Michael Linz, Parrott's pro bono lawyer. Linz, who joined the case that day and hadn't previously known Parrott, argues that DISD's effort to collect fees from the plaintiffs will have a chilling effect on public participation in government. "It's an issue of the right of the people not to be afraid to go to court on issues of constitutional importance," he says.

Parrott's suit is the last gasp of disharmony that surrounded Superintendent Bill Rojas during his tumultuous stint in Dallas. Upset that the board voted down his brash plan for Edison to run 11 elementary campuses, Rojas jokingly suggested at an October 1999 news conference that his critics panhandle to make up for the millions Edison had vowed to invest in DISD. He provided two tin cans for Parrott and Brashear, his biggest skeptics, and added $20 to get them started. The theatrics amused neither Parrott nor Brashear. Rojas apologized, but they never forgave him. Later, the board narrowly passed a scaled-down Edison plan.

Such discord now seems like a distant memory. In January, the far less abrasive Mike Moses became superintendent. Yet controversy lives on through Parrott's lawsuit--even after seven DISD elementary schools completed a first year under Edison that Moses says mirrored improvements in achievement districtwide. While two Edison schools previously rated "acceptable" fell to "low performing" status, two other schools made the opposite voyage, and another low performer dramatically improved test scores, he says.