Audio By Carbonatix
I didn’t have time to tune in yesterday for the entirety of the ad hoc committee meeting of some Dallas Independent School District trustees tasked with rewriting the district’s “educational philosophy.” At close to two hours, it wasn’t a short discussion either — it never is when trustees gather ’round the horseshoe, as you’ll see beginning at 11:30 this morning. That said, yesterday’s discussion is archived here and worth a look-see as Edwin Flores, Mike Morath, Bernadette Nutall and a few others debate and discuss the policy rewrites you’ll find on the other side. The docs offer a peek into how the board sees the district and views itself and its relationship with the super, whoever he or she may turn out to be. One excerpt:
Members of the Board of Trustees are the elected representatives of the public. As such, it is the Board’s responsibility to declare its core beliefs and commit the District to a path based upon those beliefs. The Board is responsible, with advice from the Superintendent, to declare those core beliefs and commitments to achieving the District’s Mission and Vision. This document is a strategic blueprint for achieving the District’s Mission and Vision. The Board shall provide the Superintendent with the authority to implement this strategic blueprint with fairly broad latitude. It is the Board’s responsibility to communicate expected outcomes to the Superintendent. The Board will hold the Superintendent accountable for those outcomes, using a variety of success measurements to exercise oversight along the way. The Superintendent must align in scope and spirit with this strategic blueprint.
Said Flores, who spearheaded this redo, this is something they want to give to the next superintendent and say: “‘These are the board’s goals.’ This is a political issue, a policy issue that’s to be decided upon by the board.” Sure, it’s a bit wonky, but also intriguing as Mike Morath, for instance, explains why he’s not keen on the vision statement that says DISD should “be a premier urban school district.” It’s the word “urban” with which he has an issue: He wants DISD to be “as good as Southlake … the best school district on earth.” Well, sure.
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