Divided She Stands

Right now, Parrott seems to be trying to wriggle out from under the fact that she filed a lawsuit at all. "It was a petition," she says, perhaps unaware that the two terms are interchangeable. In a memo sent to the Observer, she later continued: "The plaintiffs...were originally trying to just get a legal opinion on the legality of the 'language in the contract' and to seek a clarification of whether the Edison contract was an Educational Services Agreement or a Management Contract." An almost identical explanation appears in an anonymous June letter sent to the Observer from a group called "Concerned & Outraged Citizens of Dallas."

Semantic games, however, won't change the law. (Such postgame analysis also shows the perils of representing yourself in court.) DISD attorney Moyé notes that Parrott filed for declaratory judgment, a common type of lawsuit, and says Parrott could have avoided the possibility of being socked with legal fees. The rules concerning declaratory judgments state that "the court may award...reasonable and necessary attorney's fees."

Had Parrott done more research, she might have learned that petitioning the court for an injunction was a better strategy. Had she lost that way, Moyé says, no legal fees would have been assigned.

When Judge Ashby green-lighted the Edison contract, co-plaintiff Harry Trujillo was shell-shocked. "I wanted to cry," he says. "There is no justice in Dallas County for the little person."

Like the other plaintiffs, Trujillo says if DISD wins its fees he'll plead poverty. "You can't squeeze blood from a turnip," he says. Not to worry: Texas' lax forfeiture laws safeguard houses, cars and wages from collection by the legal victors. (Bank accounts are another story.) And some DISD trustees say if fees are assigned, the board may choose not to enforce the judgment. Still, Moyé says if Ashby assigns the fees he'll investigate the plaintiffs' assets.

Another plaintiff who doubts he'll fork over his share of $183,000 is the Reverend Stovall, pastor of Camp Wisdom United Methodist Church in southern Dallas. "I haven't taken a vow of poverty," he says. "I just don't have a lot of money."

An Atlanta native who once observed elections in apartheid-era South Africa, Stovall often gets involved in social-justice issues in Dallas. He says he joined the Edison lawsuit for a similar reason. "I thought it was morally wrong," he says, "for DISD to enter into a contract that costs $50 million [an earlier estimate of the Edison contract] when qualified staff exists" in DISD. The board's "main problem with Lois," he says, "is she's right and they're wrong."

Parrott has several adversaries on the board, but veteran school board member Hollis Brashear isn't one of them. He considers Parrott a war buddy: "She and I bore the brunt of Dr. Rojas while he was here." Brashear didn't join the Edison lawsuit, but the duo graces the files of another lawsuit, which is Rojas' parting gift to DISD.

Shortly after his dismissal in July 2000, Rojas contested his firing via the "good rapport" clause in his contract, which he claimed was vague and unenforceable. In December, outgoing state District Judge John Marshall declared it kosher. But one part of his lawsuit lives on: slander allegations against Parrott and Brashear.

Rojas alleges the two made false statements to the media that smeared his reputation and crushed his chances for top school jobs in New York City and Los Angeles. The suit recently survived a motion to dismiss brought by DISD and may go to trial in the next few months. Together with dubiously sourced letters linked to Parrott and documents showing harassment of DISD staff members, Rojas' testimony in the slander suit frames Parrott as a vindictive and manipulative official.

Although controversy had begun to dog Rojas in San Francisco after seven years leading that city's school system, he still came to DISD as an educational star. Rojas left Dallas under a dark cloud, though, after a brief, stormy tenure. Since getting booted from DISD, his luster has dimmed considerably. He now works as a senior vice president for Boston-based Advantage Schools Inc., a small for-profit management company similar to Edison.

But if his testimony in the case is truthful, it's tempting to think he got a raw deal in Dallas. It's as if Parrott created a mudstorm so huge, the resulting frenzy forced Rojas' ouster. Detailing his slander complaints in an affidavit, Rojas begins in November 1999, when Parrott and Brashear alleged he broke district policy and state law by using his DISD credit card to buy $126 in alcoholic beverages. The charges hit a sore spot for Rojas, who had been arrested twice in the past for drunken driving. Parrott and Brashear spoke to the media and demanded an investigation.

The story filtered up to The New York Times. Tillotson argues it created the image of a "roly-poly drunk, raucous Hispanic." But Rojas recalls buying drinks for Parrott and Vestal only "at Parrott's request." At a series of dinner meetings in fall 1999, Rojas says Parrott repeatedly requested that Rojas promote Vestal. "As a trustee, Parrott was technically my supervisor, and I followed her request that I pay for dinner and drinks at the Crescent Hotel," he said. Parrott adamantly denies drinking alcohol and says she didn't know anything about the credit card until later.