Texas Education Agency

The TEA Will Begin Grading Schools on A-F Scale, Just as Soon as Lawmakers Let It

The Texas Education Agency will go ahead with a new performance rating system, Education Commissioner Michael Williams announced on Tuesday. The new system will score schools on an A to F scale in hopes of closing the achievement gap between white and minority students. "I have heard the criticism ... More >>

Arlington High Suspends Student for Tweeting STAAR Test Photo, Inspires Predictable Backlash

Texas has never played around when it comes to its standardized tests, and the STAAR exam, the new assessment whose rigor is currently the center of debate in the state legislature, is no different. As one of the primary ways the state evaluates educational outcomes, and thus ensures accountability, ... More >>

Texas Is Leading the Nation in Number of Cases of Student-Teacher Sex

News came out yesterday that former Spring Branch ISD high school teacher Kathanna Culp, 28, is accused of having sex with one of her students and of supplying him and his friends with pot and alcohol. This follows last month's story about a Dallas teacher Jessica Guilbeaux, 31, accused of sleeping ... More >>

Prime Prep Academy is Open, But it Still Doesn't Have the City Permits it Needs

Prime Prep Academy opened the doors of its Oak Cliff campus on Monday as promised. Students went to class, teachers taught, Deion Sanders tweeted inane things. Prime Time delivers again. There are, however, some unresolved issues, and not just with the athletic program, which has been banned from ... More >>

How Can You Gussy Up A Report Showing Three-Quarters of Texas High School Grads Aren't College-Ready? TEA Does Its Damndest

Responding to a fairly dismal report from the purveyors of the ACT test, the Texas Education Agency is searching for a silver lining in an otherwise irredeemable truth about the 2012 crop of high school grads: Only a quarter of them are ready for college. Because the figure bears repeating, I say a ... More >>

TEA Tightening Rules for Tutoring Companies. But Will They Work?

As the district announced yesterday, and the DMN reported over the weekend (paywall), DISD is accusing five private tutoring companies of more $500,000 in fraud. That's on top of more than $140,000 the district accused two other companies of illegally taking in April after an external audit. The co ... More >>

Deion Sanders' Charter School and the Making of a Prime Time Scam

A businessman and a bishop used Cowboys' Hall of Famer Deion Sanders' name to drum up interest in a charter school. Then they tried to score from the deal.

DISD Has Plans For Two Schools Left Behind. But What About the 29,349 Kids Also In Need?

​The Texas Education Agency released its federally mandated, No Child Left Behind-backed Adequate Yearly Progress report back in August, at which point it was revealed that the Dallas Independent School District missed the mark for the third consecutive year -- which interim superintendent Alan Ki ... 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 >>

In Deion Sanders's Quest for a Charter School, the Whistleblower Turns it Up to 11

Lawrence Smith has what you might call a bit of a beef with Cowboys great Deion Sanders. And he just took that beef -- what's that phrase? Ah yes. Priiiime tiiiime. A few years back, Smith went into business with Sanders and a businessman named D.L. Wallace on a high-school recruiting directory cal ... More >>

Per State's Latest List, Students at 43 Dallas ISD Campuses Can Transfer Elsewhere

​I see here that on Thursday the Texas Education Agency quietly sent to superintendents its list of Public Education Grant-designated schools -- otherwise known as the lowest of the low-performing campuses in the state. Forty-three Dallas ISD campuses make the list, from A. Maceo Smith to Woodrow ... More >>

A Head STAAR-t, Because You Know Your Kid's Dying For Some Winter Break Homework ...

​Slowly but surely we're learning more about the State of Texas Assessments of Academic Readiness test that'll hit classrooms in the coming March. As in: For those who may have missed it, the Texas Education Agency has released some sample test questions for grades 3-8. Keep in mind, though, we do ... More >>

DISD Parents Can Vote on School Calendars, Both of Which Run Well Into June. Unless ...

​So much for that proposal to stretch some Dallas Independent School District students' calendars till July 26. Still: District parents have till Monday to vote on two calendar options, down from the five presented to trustees earlier this month, and on the surface, at least, both run longer than ... More >>

As STAAR Testing Looms, DISD Trustees to Begin Discussing Changes to Grading Policy

​After the jump are two docs parents of kiddos in the Dallas Independent School District might want to look at sooner than later -- before Thursday morning, certainly. That's when the trustees will begin discussing how to factor in the new State of Texas Assessments of Academic Readiness test scor ... More >>

TEA: More Texas Students Are Taking the SAT. Problem Is, Scores Keep Dropping.

​A little while ago, in this item below, Mike MacNaughton posted a link to this freshly minted release from the Texas Education Agency, which leads with the good news: "Texas has experienced a huge increase in the number of college-bound minority students who take the SAT college admissions test." ... More >>

Before Dallas ISD Sends TEA Its Plan to Save Unacceptable Schools, Your Input's Needed

North Dallas High School is now in its fifth year of academic unacceptability per the TEA's ratings.​For the past six days, the Dallas Independent School District has been hosting "community meetings" on campuses deemed academically unacceptable by the Texas Education Agency -- 33 in all, based, o ... More >>

FAQ-Checkin' Some Things About New STAAR Test, Which Doesn't Even Count This Year

​As timing would have it, our 8-year-old entered third grade just as the state's rolling out the new State of Texas Assessments of Academic Readiness test, which, of course, replaces the Texas Assessment of Knowledge and Skills test, which also turned 8 this year. That means his mom and I have ... 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 >>

TEA Looking at Letting School Districts Draw From Fund Balance During Budget Crisis

Commissioner of Education Robert Scott​About a month ago, Dallas Independent School District spokesman Jon Dahlander told Unfair Park that even during this current budget crisis, the district has no intention of touching its fund balance, which, he said, should sit at somewhere near the $100-milli ... More >>

An Early Look at "Repurposing" Plans for A. Maceo and North Dallas High Schools

Via The Past Whispers​Back to the Dallas Independent School District trustees' to-do list for Thursday ...Like I said, lots of interesting stuff there, beginning at the top of the briefing agenda: "Discussion of 2010-2011 Repurposing Plans for Academically Unacceptable (AU4) Schools." That AU4 ref ... 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 >>

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 >>

If You, Like DISD, Can't Wait to See Your School's Ranking, Today's Your Lucky Day

​Like I said last Thursday, the Texas Education Agency would probably prefer it if the Dallas Independent School District held off on announcing school ratings based on TAKS scores till, ya know, July 30, when the TEA officially releases its 2010 Accountability Ratings. But school's out in a few d ... More >>

Caution, Dallas ISD Parents: Raw TAKS Data Is Far From An Official TEA Rating

​So, if you've got a child in the Dallas Independent School District, as I do, and he or she comes home this afternoon with the wowee-zowee good news that their campus has been ranked, oh, let's just say exemplary by the Texas Education Agency, don't get too excited just yet. The agency is still a ... More >>

While DISD Waits for Word From TEA, Board Considers Contingency Plans For Four Schools

​On Thursday, the Dallas Independent School District's board of trustees will have their "second reading" of contingency plans for four high schools at risk of being labeled academically unacceptable by the Texas Education Agency for a fifth straight year. The at-risk campuses are Kimball, Pinksto ... More >>

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" b ... More >>

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 ... More >>

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

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. ... More >>

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 ... More >>

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 ... More >>

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 cent ... More >>

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 Sch ... More >>

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 Interscholast ... More >>

DISD's Shell Game

Yet Again, Live From 3700 Ross

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

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

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

Hope Chest

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

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

A Miracle Waiting to Happen

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

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

Miracle Whipped

Fifty gets you 70 in the mysterious world of TAAS

They Walk by Night

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

Buzz

Why wait?; Real world

The last supper

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

Flunking Out

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

Last in the Class

Why nobody will erase the board at Wilmer-Hutchins, the worst-run school district in Texas