Michael Hinojosa

Decision to Pause '08 Bond-Funded Redos At Some DISD Schools Was Anything But Quiet

Billy Earl Dade Middle School is one of the schools where construction has been halted.​Front page of the morning's paper has a pay-walled story about the Dallas Independent School District's decision to "quietly" halt construction on a handful of schools due to receive '08-bond money redos -- qui ... 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 >>

The Replacement: Hinojosa Gets Official Nod From Georgia; Dallas ISD to Name Temp

​Dallas Independent School District trustees once more spent most of Friday afternoon and evening rating and debating the five interim superintendent candidates. But, once more, they retreated to exec session and opted to run out the clock till Michael Hinojosa was officially offered the top job i ... More >>

DISD Super Michael Hinojosa Officially Quits

​Leslie's at the Dallas Independent School District board meeting at this very moment, where the trustees will more than likely announce who will temporarily take Michael Hinojosa's place now that he's off to become a Georgia peach. Shocking -- they're in closed session. Ah, but speaking of: The d ... More >>

Michael Hinojosa, You're So Great. What Makes You, Michael Hinojosa, So Great?

​Over the weekend, The Marietta Daily Journal pointed out that somewhere on the Cobb County School District's website is an interview with Michael Hinojosa that's supposed to be distributed district-wide on Wednesday. The chitchat, shot with Cobb County's spokesman during the outgoing Dallas ISD s ... More >>

Hinojosa Looks On As DISD Trustees Discuss What to Do About Interim Superintendent

Photos by Patrick MichelsOutgoing Superintendent Michael Hinojosa tries to pretend he doesn't know who Carla Ranger is talking about.Whoever set the table before last night's DISD board meeting had to be kicking themselves once the trustees got started, with dead-serious Carla Ranger yet again calli ... More >>

As Hinojosa Prepares For New Job in Cobb County, He Takes Parting Shot at DISD Board

Via The Kennesaw Patch​Patrick Michels will be at that 5:30 p.m. meeting at 3700 Ross today, where the Dallas Independent School District's board of trustees will discuss naming an interim superintendent now that Michael Hinojosa's all but boarded that midnight train to Georgia. Or: You can always ... More >>

Two Days Before DISD Board Votes on Staffing Formulas, a Discussion About Interim Super

Photo by Todd Overman/Dallas Independent School DistrictCowan and Hinojosa with 2011 Outstanding Elementary School Volunteer Award-winner Maria Amaya last month​Michael Hinojosa is in Georgia today for a 4:30 p.m. meet-n-greet with the citizenry of Cobb County, most of whom appear happy to be taki ... More >>

Michael Hinojosa: Why Should We Blame Him for Leaving a Sinking Ship?

​We all need to splash our faces with cold water in this matter of the superintendent of the Dallas school system leaving town for a job as superintendent of schools in Cobb County, Georgia. What the hell do we expect? Governor Rick Perry and the Tea Party are charging ahead with an agenda a ... More >>

DISD Trustee Ranger Wants Hinojosa Out Now

Photo by Todd Overman/Courtesy Dallas Independent School DistrictDistrict 6 trustee Carla Ranger and the state-champion Kimball High School basketball team back in March​Left a few messages for Dallas Independent School District board trustee Carla Ranger yesterday, but never heard back. No matter ... More >>

It's Official: In 14 Days Cobb County Will Name Michael Hinojosa Its New Superintendent

​Moments ago, the Cobb County School District outside of Atlanta, Georgia, named Michael Hinojosa as its superintendent. He was, as expected, its sole finalist -- but as per school district policy there, they will wait 14 days before officially naming him the superintendent.All seven members of it ... More >>

"A Very Sad Day For the Dallas Independent School District" As 450 Cut From Central Staff

​A couple of hours ago, Tawnell Hobbs wrote that she'd heard 250 central staffers at the Dallas Independent School District were being laid off today. Matter of fact, says the district in a release made available moments ago, the total number of central staff positions cut today is almost twice th ... More >>

Hinojosa About-Faces on Townview Restructuring, Goes With Parents' Proposal

​Just a few minutes ago, the Dallas Independent School District posted to its Facebook page a lengthy note that says Superintendent Michael Hinojosa has ditched his plan to split Yvonne A. Ewell Townview Center into two schools while at the same time eliminating five of its seven principals. Inste ... More >>

DISD Splits Townview Center Into "Two Schools" With Two Principals, Not Seven

​The Dallas Independent School District sent word earlier this afternoon: It is splitting the mammoth Yvonne A. Ewell Townview Center on E. Eighth Street into two schools -- one devoted to humanities; the other, arts and science. The six magnets housed within Townview, among them the TAG Magnet, t ... More >>

Dallas ISD Serves Up Yet Another Very Special, Sad Episode of The Michael Hinojosa Show

​WFAA-Channel 8 ran an "exclusive" last night recapping some of the potential staffing cuts on Dallas ISD campuses, should the super's worst-case scenario become reality. Of course, those are the same grim numbers Dallas Friends of Public Education had already posted to its website -- cuts ranging ... More >>

Hinojosa Takes a Break from Budget Woes to Break Ground on Ann Richards Middle School

Photos by Patrick MichelsSuperintendent Michael Hinojosa and Dan Richards, Ann Richards' son, turned over the dirt at DISD's newest construction project, flanked by trustees Bernadette Nutall, Carla Ranger and Nancy Bingham.Potted palms and wildflowers flanked the podium at the Ann Richards Middle S ... More >>

DISD Superintendent Michael Hinojosa Talks About The Very "Painful" Cuts to Come

​Last night, WFAA reported that some 300 Dallas Independent School District employees will not return next year -- not because of the state's $25-billion shortfall, but because the $104 million in federal stimulus money that funded their positions beginning in 2009 has gone away. As DISD spokesman ... More >>

It's Salary Season Again at Dallas ISD

​It's déjà vu all over again as, once more, the Dallas Independent School District board of trustees is set to take up the issue of giving a raise to its chief academic officer. That's only the third time in less than two years this issue's come up. Perhaps you call last year's ruckus, when trus ... More >>

What Happens in Vegas Stays in Dallas: Clark County Decides Not to Bet on DISD's Hinojosa

Dallas Independent School DistrictRound about this time yesterday, Michael Hinojosa thought he just might be leaving for Las Vegas.​No doubt you've heard: Dallas Independent School District Superintendent Michael Hinojosa's staying. Not because he wanted to; not necessarily. The entirety of the Cl ... More >>

Dallas ISD Scores With 63 Exemplary Schools. But Completion Rates Take Their Toll.

​We warned you in early June, when the Dallas Independent School District crunched some TAKS test scores and released its list of exemplary and recognized schools well ahead of the Texas Education Agency's official date of, well, today: Those numbers were very preliminary. As TEA spokesperson DeEt ... More >>

Before It's Official, DISD Releases Preliminary List of Exemplary, Recognized Schools

​We said it just last week: The Texas Education Agency won't release its 2010 Accountability Ratings till the end of July, which hasn't stopped the Dallas Independent School District from spreading the good news concerning a fifth straight year of improved TAKS scores and additional schools being ... More >>

Weeks After West Dallas School Reform Announcement, DISD Board's Ready for Details

DISD Superintendent Michael Hinojosa​Superintendent Michael Hinojosa drew a roomful of huzzahs two weeks ago when he announced that DISD was getting involved in a new effort for school reform in West Dallas. A handful of DISD trustees were among the cheering crowd, including Lew Blackburn and boar ... More >>

DISD Superintendent Hinojosa's In D.C. This Morning Testifying Before Senate

Mark Graham​I can tell you one person who won't be at that Jubilee Park meeting at DISD HQ taking place right now: DISD Superintendent Michael Hinojosa, who's testifying right now in Washington, D.C., in front of the Senate's Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee about the reauthorizatio ... 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 >>

Before OK'ing New Report Card for Superintendent, Trustees Alter Criteria

Mark GrahamDISD superintendent Michael Hinojosa​A couple of weeks ago we noticed that the Dallas Independent School District's board of trustees was considering a new "Superintendent Evaluation Instrument," which broke down the criteria into three separate categories: "student achievement," "sound ... More >>

State of the DISD Address, or: You Can't Have the Good Without Some of the Bad

Kimberly ThorpeAt the Belo Mansion this morning, Michael Hinojosa touched on everything from educational gains to the juvenile curfew.​Last time we checked, there wasn't much to laugh about when it came to the state of public education in Dallas. But leave it to Dallas Independent School Distr ... More >>

Ron Price (Kinda) Explains Why He's Not Seeking Reelection; Hinojosa (Kinda) Sheds Light On Cheating Fiasco at Lang

Ron Price​In a small meeting room at Dallas Independent School District headquarters this afternoon, Ron Price addressed reporters and a half-dozen cameras to explain why -- on the eve of the deadline to file for re-election as District 9 trustee -- he's ending his 12-year run on the school board. ... More >>

Carla Ranger Wonders If the DISD Board of Trustees Is About to "Commit Fraud"

Late into last night, there erupted at the bottom of Schutze's Tuesday post -- concerning the Dallas Independent School District board's threat to needlessly gut the magnets and learning centers -- a discussion about "commitments and covenants." Those are what the district adopted in '03 to get out ... More >>

Magnet Schools? Learning Centers? Great Ideas. So Of Course DISD Wants to Cut Them.

Mark GrahamDISD Superintendent Michael HinojosaThe Dallas Independent School District board of trustees seems to be moving toward Draconian cuts in staff and budget for the district's two most distinctive programs, magnet schools and learning centers. The board appears likely to acquiesce to the urg ... More >>

Last Night at W.T. White, Michael Hinojosa Reminded Everyone Who's in Charge of DISD

Mark GrahamMichael HinojosaIt was the last question of the night: "What do you think of the mayor's concept for taking over the Dallas Independent School District?" The audience, consisting of only a few folks scattered throughout the W.T. White High School auditorium last night, let out a collectiv ... More >>

Hoy Vey, or: What Says the Super?

A Friend of Unfair Park sends a heads-up for those with an hour to kill this morning: Dallas Independent Superintendent Michael Hinojosa will sit for a chitchat beginning at 9 a.m. with Fernando Romano of Dallas iMedia Network. If you've got any questions for the super, you can send 'em to this e-ma ... More >>

Buzz Reviews the News of 2008: Yes. It Was All Bad.

Sex clubs in the 'burbs, teacher layoffs in the district, black holes in the commissioners court—Buzz makes perfect sense of 2008

How Can DISD's Michael Hinojosa Still Love His Job—and Keep It?

Believe It or Not, Hinojosa Also Didn't Think Much of DISD's COO

Well, as it turns out, Dallas Independent School District superintendent Michael Hinojosa was far more engaged than we all thought. We just received the superintendent's annual evaluation of Eric Anderson, the district's former chief operating officer who has been widely blamed for DISD's epic finan ... More >>

DISD Trustees May Make Cutbacks in Democratic Process

DISD trustees may try to cancel next year's school board election to preserve the status quo and the superintendent

D? Well, Maybe D-.

Look, let me take one specific portion of the D special issue about the Dallas Independent School District that came out this week and use it to explain why I don’t think much of this stuff is worth reading. This was a sidebar under the byline of our former colleague, Mark Stuertz, who was fam ... More >>

Turns Out, Buying a Scapegoat Is Much Cheaper Than You'd Think

DISD In the Hole

Teachers get axed and parents fret as Dallas' school leaders scramble to cover a budget hole

Yet Again, Live From 3700 Ross

Today, the DISD Began Laying Off "At-Will" Employees Against Their Will

Once More, Live from 3700 Ross

At DISD Board Meeting, Hinojosa Recommends Cutting ... Everything

DISD's Budget Shortfall: Hinojosa's One-Man Gaffe

Hinojosa to Deliver "State of the District" Speech Today. Hoo. Boy.

The DISD's Exigency Strategy

At DISD HQ, It Begins

DISD's $64 Million Budget Shortfall Caused By "Inadequate Budgeting"

Not Officially Part of the DISD Uniform

DISD to Save $2.5 Million the Hard Way

School Board, Never Boring