This’ll most likely be our one and only item about the race for the Dallas Independent School District board of trustees — because, judging by the early-voting numbers, well, not too many folks seem to be all that interested. Take the hotly contested District 1 race, for instance: Incumbent Edwin…
Speaking of the Dallas Independent School District and grant money …I was poking around the briefing agenda for this week’s meeting of the board of trustees and noticed this intriguing item: NASA — yes, that NASA, not this NASA — is giving the DISD, via the Foundation for Community Empowerment,…
It’s a common scenario: an “A” elementary school student suddenly becomes a “C” middle-schooler. What happened? According to local brain health researchers, your child is suffering from information overload. “He was so overwhelmed by the amount of information he was trying to stuff in,” says Dr. Sandra Bond Chapman, chief…
Whilst doing some research for something that may not lead to anything, I’ve been reading Walter J. E. Schiebel’s Education in Dallas: Ninety-two years of History 1874-1966, published by the Dallas Independent School District. So this isn’t entirely an exercise in futility, I thought I’d share some of the tome:…
On Monday I moderated a District 1 school board candidates debate, and long story short, all four contenders were thoughtful, well-reasoned and dead-level; even 79-year-old long-shot Melvin Cannon’s call for more vocational education was greeted with a few nods of approval. Most of the questions stuck to issues of policy…
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…
The American Civil Liberties Union of Texas just sent word that the organization, in coordination with a U.N.-affiliated advocacy group called United Sikhs, sent out a letter warning Texas school districts — including DISD — to protect Sikh students from discrimination or bullying. The missive is after the jump. The…
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 District Superintendent Michael Hinojosa to at least try to insert some humor, even at his own expense. This morning Hinojosa gave the…
Maybe you recall the ruckus raised last May, when some folks up in Frisco got upset with the fact the school district allowed for the dissemination of Gideon bibles on campuses. And no doubt you recall what happened a year earlier, when some Jewish kids in Plano ISD were taunted…
Struggling to remain viable since losing its Southern Association of Colleges and Schools accreditation this summer, Paul Quinn College yesterday announced a major fund-raising milestone. The historic black college has raised more than $1 million since July, when the Texas Legislative Black Caucus rallied behind the foundering 137-year-old institution. School…
So, judging by this sneak peak at the Dallas Independent School District board of trustees’ briefing agenda this week, Ron Price has decided to save the district $18,000-plus: He’s now recommending giving DISD Chief Academic Officer Robin Ryan a $10,000 raise. Because, as you may recall, Price and superintendent Michael…
Got a buddy who is Cowboys’ season-ticket holder. One of the privileges is getting first dibs at all the events – not just NFL games – at the sparking, billion-dollar joint. So he buys four tickets on the 50 to last month’s Oklahoma-BYU game. Cost him $1,200, and he sells them…
Now that the air has been cleared regarding Dallas Independent School District Superintendent Michael Hinojosa’s poorly spelled add-on agenda item to “undo” the $28,000 raise set aside for Chief Academic Officer Robin Ryan, we can move on to what happened at today’s Dallas Regional Chamber meeting: “A Look Back and…
A Dallas Regional Chamber meeting featuring Dallas Independent School District Superintendent Michael Hinojosa has been on our agenda now for some time. Still, we couldn’t help but use the opportunity to ask Hinojosa in person about this morning’s story by Tawnell Hobbs, who reported that Hinojosa may face reprimand after…
It’s been around since forever — not quite since the ’70s, but close enough. But just yesterday, National Public Radio’s Wade Goodwyn got around to profiling for All Things Considered none other than Mesquite ISD’s KEOM-FM (88.5), our once-upon-a-time favorite blast from the past where, Goodwyn reports, the sound of…
I had big money on the outcome of last night’s Kimball-A. Maceo Smith game at James Jones Field, but now what? Because this morning we got word that the showdown in Southwest Dallas was shutdown by the refs midway through the third quarter. Still not sure exactly what happened, except…
Earlier this week, the recently formed Dallas Friends of Public Education PAC announced its endorsements for the Dallas Independent School District Board of Trustees: Dr. Kyle Renard (District 1), Bruce Parrott (District 3) and Bernadette Nutall (District 9 … no, different District 9). The special election, which pits those candidates…
Those trying to keep the Dallas Independent School District from razing W.H. Adamson High School have put out the word: Tomorrow’s the last chance to speak up before the board votes on the resolution to quash historical designation. It’s on the consent agenda for tomorrow, and Adamson alumni are marshalling…
In the end, Jordin Sparks had way more time with the microphone than a certain former president at Cowboys Stadium, where, this morning, George and Laura Bush were among those on-hand to unveil the North Texas Super Bowl XLV Host Committee’s educational outreach initiative called Service Learning Adventures in North…
George W. and Laura Bush are scheduled to speak at 11 this morning at Cowboys Stadium — who knows, maybe the ex-president slept over? Of course, Arlington school kids won’t be out there for the announcement concerning the North Texas Super Bowl XLV Host Committee’s historic service-learning program, about which…
There’s an awful nice Associated Press piece floating around about 11-year-old Dallas Environmental Science Academy sixth-grader Dalton Sherman, who, as you no doubt recall, became the Dallas Independent School District most famous motivational speaker after his back-to-school keynote in ’08. There’s a good reason for the follow-up a year later:…
As the Friends of Unfair Park can probably guess, there were two good reasons why we suffered through nearly four hours of a Dallas Independent School District board of trustees briefing today. The first: the fate of W. H. Adamson High School, whose historic main building district officials want to…
