Subject: Texas Education Agency

• Re: Lancaster ISD's Way Late With Audit...

  April 4, 2007

• Lancaster ISD's Way Late With Audit, And People Are Starting to Notice

  April 4, 2007

• Don't Be a Fool. Stay in School. Or Not.

  October 6, 2006

• Re: Hollow News

  August 14, 2006

• The Price is Wrong

  April 28, 2006

• A Degree in Creationism? Could Happen.

  December 12, 2007

• DISD's Whistleblower Alleges District Retaliation in Federal Lawsuit

  May 13, 2008

• Spruce Goose: Or, How the DISD Will Try to Turn an "F" Into a "D"

  June 26, 2008

• Unfair Park Exclusive: TEA Appoints Monitor For DISD's "Academically Unacceptable" Schools

  August 19, 2008

• The TEA Threatens "Alternative Management" or Closure For DISD's "Unacceptable" Schools

  August 19, 2008

• Yet Again, Live From 3700 Ross

  October 2, 2008

• DISD's Shell Game

  October 9, 2008

• School Board's Carla Ranger on DISD: "The Wrong People Are in Charge."

  October 29, 2008

• Dallas ISD to Learn Some Interesting Legal Lessons Come January's End

  DISD school board trustee Carla Ranger End of January's shaping up to be busy, busy, busy for the Dallas Independent School District. Says school board trustee Carla Ranger on her blog this a.m., Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott has set a January 19 deadline for the DISD, the Texas Education Agency and "other interested parties" to submit briefs pro or con the school board's decision to extend its term limits from three years to four. Ranger -- vehemently opposed to the extension of term li

  December 22, 2008

• Letters

  March 28, 1996

• The Learning Curve

  August 15, 1996

• Last in the Class

  October 3, 1996

• DISD's About to Get Very Stimulated

  Library of CongressBy now, perhaps, you've read that some $104,070,000 of the nearly $800 billion stimulus package will wind up in the pockets of the Dallas Independent School District. (If your kids aren't in the DISD, you can see how your district fared in the sweepstakes by checking out this site; Plano, $16 million should help, right?) When asked how that money will be spent, DISD spokesman Jon Dahlander told Unfair Park this evening via e-mail, "We're waiting on the regulations to come in f

  February 20, 2009

• Letters to the Editor

  September 21, 2000

• DISD In the Hole

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

  October 9, 2008

• Evolution Sunday Especially Important in Texas

  February 7, 2008

• A Miracle Waiting to Happen

  With a little luck and a wise school superintendent, Dallas could do what Houston did

  December 28, 2000

• Ripped Off

  When singing the blues, DISD's Corrine Silguero knows it helps to live through them

  November 3, 2005

• Hope Chest

  Before DISD goes marrying Wilmer-Hutchins, let's get a look at the dowry

  July 21, 2005

• Single Barrel, Double Standard

  When Lancaster's school superintendent ordered a lenient sentence for two white kids caught with shotguns, black parents said it was one more example of the suburb's bigotry

  February 15, 2001

• Not So Special

  DISD's special education program is anything but, say parents and state officials, and it too often abandons the children who need attention most

  December 28, 2000

• Go Down, Moses

  When the new super gets to town, Dallas will decide whether it really wants accountability

  November 9, 2000

• Miracle Whipped

  Fifty gets you 70 in the mysterious world of TAAS

  November 2, 2000

• Careless Wish

  He's white

  October 5, 2000

• They Walk by Night

  Join us for a chilling tale of the (highly paid) un-dead at DISD headquarters

  September 28, 2000

• Buzz

  Why wait?; Real world

  August 3, 2000

• The last supper

  Many within DISD's special-education department believe the new superintendent has set them up for failure

  October 14, 1999

• Flunking Out

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

  July 22, 1999

• Do You Have a Face Mask and Some Tamiflu I Can Borrow? Give 'Em Back, Swear.

  An out-of-state colleague wondered late yesterday, "Is it true that the state of Texas has canceled all sports events till May 11? Does that include Astros and Rangers?" Um ... no. Alas, such was his reading of a breathless, since-vanished New York Times story concerning the University Interscholastic League's decision to postpone all events till May 11 due to the swine flu. Another Friend of Unfair Park sent an e-mail pointing out the irony of the UIL's decision:Three weeks ago, the Texas Educa

  April 30, 2009

• As DISD Shuts Down its First Campus Due to Swine Flu, What Happens After That?

  Just got off the phone with Dallas Independent School District spokesman Jon Dahlander, who, moments ago, announced that the district is closing Daniel Webster Elementary from tomorrow till May 11 due to one confirmed case of the swine flu at that campus. (It will remain open throughout today to accomodate working parents who may not be able to pick up their kids.) As a DISD parent myself, I was curious how the district's handling all this -- which is to say, does DISD have any intention of foll

  April 30, 2009

• Booker T. Washington Will Likely Lose 13 Positions For the 2009-'10 School Year

  Dallas Independent School District spokesman Jon Dahlander just called Unfair Park back to explain the figure on Page 14 of the summary of staffing formulas at DISD campuses for the 2009-'10 school year being discussed by trustees today. And while it looks as though the Booker T. Washington High School for the Performing and Visual Arts will lose 23 magnet teachers next school year -- from 26 to 3, says the document -- Dahlander says it will be about half that. Which, he acknowledges, "is still

  May 5, 2009

• Magnet Mayhem: DISD Trustees Seem Hell-Bent on Gutting the Crown Jewels of the District, and for No Good Reason

  Allied Works ArchitectureThe Booker T. Washington High School for the Performing and Visual ArtsThe Dallas Independent School District is about to do massive damage to its magnet school and learning center programs. The magnets represent the best of the district's academic efforts. The learning centers are the last remaining legacy of a successful decades-long court battle to cleanse the district of apartheid.  The administration, a majority of the school board and the district's lawyers ar

  May 8, 2009

• Eddie Bernice Johnson, Others Taking a Keen Interest In DISD Trustees' Efforts to Gut Magnet Schools and Learning Centers

  Congresswoman Eddie Bernice JohnsonThings are popping a bit today on the Dallas Independent School District magnet schools front.Congresswoman Eddie Bernice Johnson's office confirms that Johnson is talking to the U.S. Department of Education seeking "clarification" of its current position on Title I money and school funding. Dallas school headquarters has been insisting it must slash budgets for learning centers and magnet schools because of new federal guidelines. Apparently, Johnson is aski

  May 11, 2009

• DISD Lawyer Says There Are No Waivers For Magnets. But, You See, He's Wrong.

  Woodrow Wilson High SchoolAt about 5:50 pm today, I received a call from a Fort Worth attorney, Ben Barlow, representing the Dallas Independent School District on the magnet school and learning center issue. He informed me that my piece posted to Unfair Park on Friday night was dead wrong and that there are no waivers for magnets from federal Title I requirements. Barlow -- who is, I bet, a very good lawyer -- read me the law and made a very persuasive case.One hour later, I received a call fro

  May 11, 2009

• Sooner Than Later, DISD Trustees Will Run Out of Legal Excuses They Can Hide Behind

  Ben BarlowI spoke this morning with Ben Barlow, the Fort Worth attorney for the Dallas Independent School District system who had informed me yesterday that no waivers were available under existing law for Dallas's magnet schools facing severe budget cuts under federal Title I funding rules. The thing was, an hour after Barlow had given me a lecture on this theme, the Texas Education Agency called DISD and granted waivers to seven magnet schools.The TEA said the waivers, exempting the schools

  May 12, 2009

• Go Ahead DISD Trustees. Gut the Magnet Schools. If You Want a City That Aspires to Mediocrity.

  May 14, 2009

• Eddie Bernice Johnson Asks DISD Board to Delay Tonight's Staffing Vote

  Eddie Bernice JohnsonThe headline says it all. But this missive, which we just received from Congresswoman Eddie Bernice Johnson's office concerning the fight over funding at Dallas Independent School District's magnet schools and learning centers, says it better. Certainly, longer.Update at 5:15 p.m.: As the DISD board of trustees is due to begin its called meeting shortly, I asked district spokesman Jon Dahlander whether or not the board will heed Johnson's request to delay tonight's vote. At

  May 14, 2009

• DISD's Attempt to Gut Magnets, Learning Centers Gets Uglier With Every Misstep

  Patrick MichelsThe scene outside 3700 Ross Avenue last nightLast night's decision by the Dallas Independent School District's board of trustees to delay voting on budget cuts for the district's enhanced schools was more than just a stall. The debate leading up to that decision shed a little more light on the question most people watching all this have been asking for the last several weeks:What the hell?Why in the world would the Dallas Independent School District want to screw up its magnet sc

  May 15, 2009

• Hey DISD Trustees! Do the Math on Magnet Schools.

  May 21, 2009

• Wherein the DO and the DISD Have a Math-Off Concerning Per-Pupil Expenditures

  On Tuesday of this week Dallas Independent School District spokesman Jon Dahlander responded to questions I had asked him last week for my column this week about per-pupil expenditures at high school campuses. Unfortunately, his response by e-mail reached me several days after my deadline had passed. Mr. Dahlander is a busy man these days and has a lot more to do in this world than answer questions for me, so I won't hold it against him that he replied after my deadline.I only regret that I wasn

  May 20, 2009

• And Now, For Some Good DISD News ...

  Thomas Jefferson High School, which, ahem, some of us have always recognized as one of DISD's finest learning establishmentsBased on preliminary calculations and TAKS results, a record number of Dallas Independent School District campuses are poised to be classified as "recognized" or "exemplary" by the Texas Education Agency. Until now, not one non-magnet high school in the district has been deemed recognized, and this year six are slated to get the honor. One of them is Sunset High School, wh

  May 28, 2009

• The TEA Hands DISD Its Report Card

  Loose in the Lab​Here's a fun weekend activity: Scroll through the Texas Education Agency's accountability ratings for the Dallas Independent School District, which were released this afternoon. (You can go here for the full statewide breakdown by district, region, etc., while KTVT-Channel 11's Steve Pickett offers a ratings ranking for area's school districts.) But for the sake of the Friends of Unfair Park with kiddos still in the DISD, the highlights: Of the 231 schools in the district, 46

  July 31, 2009

• Trustee Points to "Serious Violations" Found in Audit of DISD's Adult Basic Education Program

  ​The Dallas Independent School District's Adult Basic Education Program is available to all "adult learners and educationally disadvantaged adults in Dallas and Rockwall counties" who want to learn about, well, you name it -- everything from English to math, computer skills to parenting skills. So says this 2007-2008 at-a-glance, in which it's also explained that the money for this program comes from the feds and the state.Carla Ranger was even more specific in a blog item posted late last nig

  August 25, 2009

• Dallas ISD Spokesman Says District's Been Working to Fix Adult Basic Ed Since March

  ​We end the day where we began the day, if only because we've finally spoken with Dallas Independent School District spokesman Jon Dahlander concerning the critical internal audit of the Adult Basic Education Program, funded last year with $3.7 million in grant money. We were expecting to post the audit itself, which is 15 pages, but school district attorneys instead forced reporters to submit open records requests -- which means we may see the document sometime in the next, oh, two weeks. May

  August 25, 2009

• DISD Off: Ranger Attacks Fellow Trustees' "Destructive and Self-Serving Agenda"

  DISD trustee Carla Ranger​In case you missed it, on Tuesday Tawnell Hobbs published Dallas Independent School District trustee Jack Lowe's list of things he's looking for in an "ideal" trustee. Among his bullet points: "Supports our vision of being the best urban school district in the country." Fantastic. "Makes courageous decisions for the good of the whole district even when it is politically risky." Right on. "Focuses on students and student achievement, not jobs and contracts." Hmmm, real

  October 16, 2009