By now you’ve read this (I hope), and it now appears the governor’s going to allow the state Lege to take $3.2 billion from the Rainy Day Fund to pay down some of that budget shortfall, which may just save a few teachers’ jobs. But Michael Quinn Sullivan, president of…
One week ago today we took a look at Dallas Independent School District trustee Edwin Flores’s proposal to rework how the district determines who its “best teachers” are before mass layoffs begin courtesy the state’s budget shortfall. After which it went before the board at Thursday’s briefing. After which it…
Dallas Independent School District Superintendent Michael Hinojosa was among those who spoke Saturday in front of the guesstimated 12,000-plus parents, educators and students amassed in front of the state capitol building in Austin. His brief remarks are above. They am what they am. Dalton Sherman spoke after the super and…
Superintendent Media Availability from Dallas Independent School Dist on Vimeo.When I asked Jim for his take on yesterday’s board briefing at 3700 Ross Avenue, this was his initial pass: “My interpretation of the day’s events is that we are all dangling on the end of Rick Perry’s yo-yo string and…
Jim — lucky — is at 3700 Ross at this very moment, where the trustees are doing a little math involving employees and enrollment. Moments ago, Carla Ranger wanted to know: If enrollment has dropped, why has the number of employees grown? She didn’t get the answer she wanted; she…
Twice in recent weeks I’ve heard Dallas ISD trustee Edwin Flores discuss his proposal to rework how the district determines who its “best teachers” are — the first time, when we spoke two weeks ago about the district’s offer to buy out full-timers, then again at his budget town hall…
At this very moment, the state Senate Committee on Education — which includes chair Florence Shapiro, John Carona and Royce West — is hearing testimony related to these seven Senate bills, most of which would let school districts increase class size and give teachers furlough days and further flexibility in…
When Dallas Independent School District Michael Hinojosa initially told the school board last month about the coming budget cuts that could result in the district laying off 3,100 on-campus full-timers and some 600 at 3700 Ross, he warned that under the so-called “worst-case scenario,” the losses could add up to…
At last week’s budget town hall, Dallas Independent School District trustee Edwin Flores took a thinly veiled shot at U.S. Rep. Lloyd Doggett, who he did not name, over the $830 million in federal Education Jobs Fund money presently sitting in D.C. As Flores told it, Doggett’s blocking the money…
Fired up over the very real chance that nearly half the teachers at Booker T. Washington High School for the Performing and Visual Arts could be let go, senior Korey Elizabeth Parker paced the Wyly Theater stage last night, letting the crowd know that in the coming budget battle, she…
While we await some return phone calls, this just in: There’s a “community meeting” scheduled for tomorrow night to discuss possible cuts at Booker T. Washington High School for the Performing & Visual Arts. Per the Dallas Friends of Public Education, the meeting — which I’ve been told is really…
FOX & Friends, starring Channel 5’er-turned-Daily Show punching bag Gretchen Carlson, ran a piece this morning on Dallas ISD’s up-to-$10,000 buyout incentive offered to teachers through March 8. As soon as I saw the name of the teacher interviewed (Beverly Stergeos) I hit The Google! to see where she works;…
View more videos at: http://www.nbcdfw.com.Above is KXAS-Channel 5’s story from last night about teachers who camped out at 3700 Ross last night to sign up at 8 this morning for their up-to-$10,000 buyout; on the other side is WFAA-Channel 8’s. In both I see my son’s kindergarten, first-grade and art…
Last night, the Dallas Independent School District board of trustees approved that buyout plan for on-campus full-timers wanting to take the money and run before they’re laid off. At which point, the district handed to principals a FAQ, which the Dallas Friends of Public Education posted to its website this…
Had a long talk with Dallas Independent School District trustee Edwin Flores today about a lot of things, some of which I’ll get to tomorrow. But before tonight’s board meeting, I figured it was worth sharing at least this one thing — our chat about the proposal to pay the…
… but keep it short — you only get 255 characters.Oh, yeah — the district also just launched its 2011-12 Dallas ISD Financial Outlook website, which I told you yesterday was on its way. The DISD’s calling it a “Districtwide Clearinghouse of Ideas and Information.” You’ll find pretty much everything…
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…
Potted palms and wildflowers flanked the podium at the Ann Richards Middle School construction site this morning, where Dallas Independent School District officials talked about the energy efficiency, sustainable landscape, an exterior sundial that will make the school a landmark of green design. Of course, that’s not the kind of…
When last I looked at the Dallas Independent School District board’s meeting agenda for Thursday, there was no item offering to pay some 1,000 teachers up to $10,000 to take early retirement under the so-called “new reality.” But, sure enough, it’s there now, as Tawnell Hobbs noted this morning: “Consider…
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 from a possible…
Inside Track February 2011 from Dallas Independent School Dist on Vimeo.What you see above is a video the Dallas Independent School District just posted to Vimeo in which district spokesman Jon Dahlander asks Michael Hinojosa to discuss the “staggering” worst-case scenario outlined at the board meeting two weeks ago. I…
Texas Trib’s editor Evan Smith just posted his lengthy chitchat with three state House first-termers — all Republicans, all from ’round these parts (Dallas’s Stefani Carter, Mesquite’s Cindy Burkett and Grand Prairie’s Rodney Anderson). The full sitdown runs a little more than 37 minutes, but Smith has trimmed out a…
