Education Issues

A Broad Gap for DISD to Clear

Dallas Achieves! What, We Have No Idea.

No Child Left Behind. Yeah, O.K.

The Road to Broad Runs Through Texas, Just Not the Dallas ISD

The Learning Curve

Earnest eggheads came to Texas with an idea that for-profit schools can save public education. So far, it ain't working.

Letters

Earnest eggheads came to Texas with an idea that for-profit schools can save public education. So far, it ain't working.

Easy pickings

In the Legislature this year, lawmakers may find that it's better to give than receive

No place like home

Thousands of Texans say they can do a better job teaching their children at home. But some local truant officers claim parents are using a massive loophole in Texas law to skip school altogether.

Letters to the Editor

Man with the Plan DISD's New Math

Word By Word

LIFT raises money for literacy

Buzz

Good God, a good grade; Has he even unpacked yet?

Hard-on for Reading

Good God, a good grade; Has he even unpacked yet?

Wild Child

For Quinn Eaker, a son of the radical "unschooling" movement, school's out forever

Goy Gevalt

In Her Shoes is pretty but useless, a Prada with a broken heel

"Nice Kid, But..."

To get into the right college, sometimes you have to be better than perfect

Schoolhouse Dynamite

If Russell Fish ever wins his lawsuit, watch 'em blow

Blowin' It

A resonant children's classic from E.B. White becomes a dismayingly dissonant movie

The Resurrection of Sandy Kress

Or, how a Democrat and reviled former DISD board president found a happy home pushing "educational acoountability" for the GOP

Planting SEEDs of hope

An innovative math program recalculates which students will succeed and which will fail at DISD

Flunking Out

Charter school scandals are teaching Texas a tough lesson -- one the state should have known four years and $77 million ago.

A Modern Prophecy

Charter school scandals are teaching Texas a tough lesson -- one the state should have known four years and $77 million ago.

Dallas ISD's Long and Winding Road to Broad Prize Just Hit a Dead End

​Perhaps you've seen the promotional materials -- they've been everywhere during the past five years, as the Dallas Independent School District (and superintendent Michael Hinojosa, especially) eased on down that Road to Broad, so named for the $2 million award given to urban school districts who ... More >>

Speak Out, Loud And Proud

​Perhaps you've seen the promotional materials -- they've been everywhere during the past five years, as the Dallas Independent School District (and superintendent Michael Hinojosa, especially) eased on down that Road to Broad, so named for the $2 million award given to urban school districts who ... More >>

DISD's Running Full-Speed to Reform Through New West Dallas "School Zone"

Patrick MichelsChartering a new course: Mayor Tom Leppert and DISD superintendent Michael Hinojosa this morning at Dallas City Hall​This morning's mayor's breakfast at City Hall featured a parade of speakers covering the need for big-picture reforms in West Dallas education, the sort of shakeups t ... More >>

Trustee Carla Ranger Is Very Unhappy With DISD Super's West Dallas Initiative

DISD trustee Carla Ranger​Yesterday Patrick Michels brought back this report from Dallas City Hall, where Mayor Tom Leppert and Dallas Independent School District Superintendent Michael Hinojosa introduced the so-called the West Dallas "School Zone," a public-private partnership involving charter ... More >>

Education Guru To Dallas Teachers: In School Reform, "There Are No Miracles"

Patrick MichelsDiane Ravitch speaking at the Dallas Institute's first annual Education Forum last night.​The big shakeups credited with turning around public schools in New York, New Orleans and Washington, D.C. -- which Mayor Tom Lepeprt and organizers cite as influences for a new school reform e ... More >>

On L.A.'s Skid Row, a generational war over how to teach the American children of illegal immigrants

Patrick MichelsDiane Ravitch speaking at the Dallas Institute's first annual Education Forum last night.​The big shakeups credited with turning around public schools in New York, New Orleans and Washington, D.C. -- which Mayor Tom Lepeprt and organizers cite as influences for a new school reform e ... More >>

Days After Cheering TEA Ratings, DISD Misses Feds' Adequate Yearly Progress Standards

​One week ago today the Texas Education Agency sent word: With significant help from the state, the Dallas Independent School District racked up 63 exemplary schools, while several high schools long on the academically unacceptable list finally get a reprieve. Not all was well, as dropout and comp ... More >>

Fixing the Schools, One Screening at a Time, with CDM's Waiting for Superman Soiree

​As the education policy call-to-arms doc Waiting for Superman has been released across the country, educators and would-be reformers everywhere have been doing the thing you do when a Davis Guggenheim documentary (or a Mel Gibson film in the original Aramaic) comes out: special screenings and pos ... More >>

Dallas ISD Trustees Take A Look At Ways to Bring More Charter Schools Into the District

​A handful of Dallas Independent School District gatheredn the old board room at 3700 Ross this morning to poke at a question with big implications: How can the district get the most of its new partnerships charter schools, possibly even next school year? Born out of April's West Dallas "School Zo ... More >>

At Last, Carla Ranger Weighs In On Budget Cuts

​It's been a long while since Dallas Independent School District District 6 trustee served up a hot sports opinion on her blog. But given the looming "new reality" that has led to trustees being asked to consider giving teachers $10 million to scoot before they're fired, Ranger can hold her tongue ... More >>

The public school funding crisis is part of a bigger plan to suck all sense of community out of the country

​It's been a long while since Dallas Independent School District District 6 trustee served up a hot sports opinion on her blog. But given the looming "new reality" that has led to trustees being asked to consider giving teachers $10 million to scoot before they're fired, Ranger can hold her tongue ... More >>

In DISD Trustee News: Ranger Unhappy With Citizens Budget Review Commission Line-Up, While Cowan Offers a "Budget Bracket"

DISD via FacebookThe first Citizen Budget Review Commission meeting, held on Monday​On Friday we were introduced to the Dallas Independent School District's Citizens Budget Review Commission, a 10-member group selected by the school board and Superintendent Michael Hinojosa that's been tasked with ... More >>

On Thursday, DISD Board to Discuss Proposal That'll Make It Easier to Create Charter Schools

​On Thursday morning, the Dallas Independent School District's board of trustees will take its first long, hard look at a proposal to "streamline the process for implementing a charter school." It's the result of months of work by the board's Charter School Ad Hoc Committee, which was tasked with ... More >>

Ranger Tries to Use Outside Contributions to Tie Blackburn to Charters. Donors Say: "Nope."

Lew Blackburn​At some point this evening, the Dallas Independent School District board of trustees will elect new officers. Among the front-runners for president is Lew Blackburn, which may explain why Carla Ranger took to her blog earlier today to throw Blackburn under the bus.You see, there's no ... More >>

If Buyouts Were Fine for Teachers, Says Local Lawmaker, Why Not Offer to Students Too?

State Rep. Sid Miller​Last night in Austin, state Rep. Sid Miller laid out a novel solution for Texas's troubled school budget: the Taxpayer Savings Grants Program, a reward of nearly $5,000 for any parents who'll do us all a solid and take their kids out of public school. Under Miller's plan, par ... More >>

Michael Hinojosa's Gone, But As He Begins New Job, His Time in Dallas Is Not Forgotten

Photo by Patrick MichelsMiss him yet?​Former Dallas Independent School District Superintendent Michael Hinojosa officially begins his new gig in Cobb County, Georgia, today. Hence, this morning's piece in the Atlanta Journal-Constitution: "New Cobb superintendent's job 1: Close students' achieveme ... More >>

Want to Get More Involved in the Dallas ISD? Then Here You Go. But It Ain't Free.

​Over the last couple of weeks I've received numerous emails suggesting I sign up for something called Leadership DISD, which promises to develop "education-focused, informed leaders within the Dallas Independent School District (DISD) service area who affect positive change and help to lead suppo ... More >>

It's Official: DISD Now Has More Academically Unacceptable Schools Than Exemplary Ones

This never gets old.​The Texas Education Agency won't officially release its based-on-TAKS-scores state accountability ratings till 'round 1 this afternoon (here, for those so interested), at which point Commissioner of Education Robert Scott will hold a press conference in Austin. But the Dallas ... More >>

Food For Thought, Young Dallas Lawyers' Food-Centric Benefit, Brings Out Big-Name Chefs This Weekend

Tiffany Derry​The Dallas Association of Young Lawyers hosts its third annual Food for Thought on Saturday at The Tower Club, where guests can buy goodies in the silent and live auctions and sample fare from a number of top-notch local chefs and restaurants. The event is a benefit for Big Thou ... More >>

Interim Super: "The Annual Ratcheting Up of Standards is Catching Up With" Dallas ISD

Dave Goldfinger​And the hits just keep on coming: One week ago today the Texas Education Agency officially announced that the Dallas Independent School District had more campuses deemed academically unacceptable (33) than exemplary (30) -- a radical shift from last year's stats, thanks in large pa ... More >>

Or Maybe the Dallas Independent School District's Trustees Should Just Visit Mesquite

​Earlier today we revisited the Dallas Regional Chamber's plan, blessed by Mayor Mike and Lew Blackburn, to save the Dallas Independent School District. And while Commit! is still in its vague, unformed infancy, clearly this is Very Important to a few very important people. Which is why Blackburn ... More >>

At the Last Minute, Texas Spikes Federal Sex Education Funding ... Again

​Condoms, birth control -- who needs 'em? Just don't have sex, Texas says to its horny teens. Just hobble that unbridled desire coupled with a limited understanding of consequences and say 'No, I'm saving myself for marriage.' That's pretty much the message, maybe paired with an infographic d ... More >>

Mazel Tov, Mesquite ISD, For Winning the Urban School Board Excellence Award

​Seriously, instead of trying to come up with cute names for teacher evaluations or asking the Dallas Regional Chamber for help, the Dallas Independent School District's higher-ups (the school board, especially) need to take the few-minute drive to Mesquite and ask Superintendent Dr. Linda Henrie ... More >>

My, How This Crisis is Growing

​Seriously, instead of trying to come up with cute names for teacher evaluations or asking the Dallas Regional Chamber for help, the Dallas Independent School District's higher-ups (the school board, especially) need to take the few-minute drive to Mesquite and ask Superintendent Dr. Linda Henrie ... More >>

Survey Says Texas Schools Are Now a Little Less Awful at Teaching Students Sex Education

Texas Freedom Network​Just three years ago, 94 percent of the state's school districts told their kiddos: Just say no to sex. And that was that when it came to sex ed -- abstinence only and nothing but, which was working out real well considering that Texas's teen-pregnancy rate was the third-high ... More >>

What's the Hurry? Why Does Council Have to Vote on Helping Uplift Sell Bonds This Week?

The map of Uplift schools, present and future, as presented in this morning's briefing to the council's Economic Development Committee​You know the cell phones must have been burning all weekend when the first city council committee briefing of the week at City Hall on Monday morning starts off wi ... More >>

DISD Says It's Not Sitting on Federal Funds. It's Actually Trying to Keep From Wasting Them.

​We started this morning by noting Brett Shipp's piece from last night suggesting the Texas Education Agency is threatening to withhold Dallas ISD from close to $80 million in federal funds birthed by No Child Left Behind. The reason, says Commissioner of Education Robert Scott: Only 40 students o ... More >>

Uplift, Deep Ellum Community Association Are Trying For a "Win-Win" With Planned School

The former Baylor offices at 2625 Elm in Deep Ellum where Uplift Education expects to open a new campus in August​At this very moment the city council members are discussing whether they'd like to get into the bond business to help Uplift Education with its plan to sell tax-exempt bonds to hel ... More >>

Item Involving Charter School's Bonds Pushes Council Into Passionate Philosophical Debate

"We will not be great city unless DISD becomes a great school district."​This was a good day -- such days do occur -- to study democracy in action at Dallas City Hall. The city council engaged in a smart debate on a proposal to help a charter school organization sell bonds to build more charter sc ... More >>