You Should Check Out the Mayors’ Report Card on Education

DISD schools: still not great, but not that bad if you look at other really big districts. So says a report issued by the Bush library and Mayor Mike Rawlings that compares achievement and disciplinary stats across the country’s biggest urban districts. The mission of the reports is described as…

Highland Park’s Book Fight Is About Ideology, Not Sex

From its beginning last fall, the narrative of the Great Highland Park Book Ban — and I think all spectators can agree that it’s been great — has been about sex. This is understandable. Almost all great book-ban fights are about sex — about when kids should be exposed to…

Egghead Researchers Say Dallas Is Not a Smart City. Hah! We Is To.

Boston is the smartest large city in the United States, according to a new study from New Geography. Dallas did not fare nearly as well. The numbers behind the rankings are straightforward. Weight is given to the number of college graduates in each of the Census Bureau’s Metropolitan Statistical Areas…

TXU Hits Duncanville ISD With $1.2 Million Electric Bill

Duncanville ISD thought it was getting a great deal when, one year ago this month, it switched electric providers and signed on with the State Power Program through the state’s General Land Office. Just like that, Duncanville ISD’s price-per-kilowatt hour dropped almost 20 percent, from 7.3 cents to a maximum…

Highland Park HS Keeps Genesis on Required Reading List Despite Smut

Last week, Highland Park ISD released its updated high school reading list. The list provided titles required for in-class reading, optional outside reading and the passive aggressive list of “approved” but not taught in the classroom reading. Students will have to get parental permission to read six books on the…

Will Dallas ISD Ever Rename Its Confederate Schools?

On Tuesday morning, right after an African-American principal and an African-American superintendent had finished predicting a great future for East Dallas’ Lee Elementary and its new International Baccalaureate program, a woman buttonholed DISD trustee Mike Morath. After a few complimentary words about Morath’s efforts on behalf of the campus, she…

Dallas’ Mata Elementary Has a Frighteningly Large Dungeon

It’s far too early to render judgment on Superintendent Mike Miles’ school-choice initiative. Eventually, he wants to open nearly three dozen specialized campuses that offer an alternative to neighborhood schools but aren’t as selective as magnets. Thus far, he’s opened just one: Mata Montessori, just south of White Rock Lake…

To Keep Guns Off Campus, School Cops Count on Students and Social Media

When it comes to reporting weapons in schools, kids are often each others’ best watchdogs. In light of the recent Washington high school shooting, and the school shootings in recent years at Sandy Hook, Virginia Tech and Columbine, police departments across the country are constantly brainstorming new ways to decrease…