While the Getting is Good: Why Shouldn't DISD's Michael Hinojosa Leave?

While the gettin's good: We all need to splash our faces with cold water in this matter of the superintendent of the Dallas school system leaving for a job as superintendent of schools in Cobb County, Georgia.

What do we expect?

Governor Rick Perry and a cabal of ultra-right ideologues are exploiting a catastrophic $23-billion state revenue shortfall to engineer the decimation of public education. A report in Sunday's Dallas Morning News depicted the impotence of what we used to think of as mainstream Republicans, people whose basic civic-mindedness would not have allowed this kind of debacle to take place.

Forget civic-mindedness. Texas is being steered by people who don't like today's America.

Why wouldn't DISD superintendent Michael Hinojosa leave? Cobb County is relatively affluent with decent budget prospects. It dealt with a $100-million shortfall last year and had to fire teachers, but things are already greatly improved.

When the budget tsunami hits the Dallas school system later this year, DISD will have to gut its magnet schools program, bloat class sizes and fire more teachers.

Meanwhile, Hinojosa has sizzle. People want him. Here's a guy who can run a major, terribly challenged, urban school system with equanimity. And he got test scores up.

Sure, when he first took over the school system's budgetary practices blew up on him, but long before he got here, the FBI devoted almost two years to trying to figure out the school system's bank accounts and gave up. So Hinojosa came to town, and the thing fell apart on his watch. Should he have been able to sniff the air and say, "Hey, I smell money burning?" Ideally. But he brought in a smart, tough financial person and got it cleaned up pretty fast.

What about loyalty? Is Hinojosa a cynical SOB who doesn't care about Dallas? Well, how loyal must a public servant be? Do you think the Perrycrats are going to accept any blame for the disaster ahead? Oh, hell no. They're going to blame it on guys like Hinojosa.

The Dallas Morning News also had an editorial Sunday about how Hinojosa's departure is an opportunity for Dallas to hire some really great superintendent. They think our business leaders can go recruit somebody hotter. Talk about delusion. Why would somebody better than Hinojosa come to Texas?

If city business leaders want to do anything to save the school system, they need to get Rick Perry out of office. Otherwise, we can expect to see long lines of top people with suitcases in their hands, fleeing a sinking state.