I Too Was "Academically Acceptable"

Looks like Mr. Funny Guy's done the serious business of clarifying Friday's Dallas Morning News story about the Dallas Independent School District's homework's-for-suckers policy that isn't, not really, kinda-sorta, maybe just a little? For now, then, a deep, though also deeply suspicious, sigh of relief amongst those of us with...

By Robert Wilonsky

August 18, 2008

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Looks like Mr. Funny Guy's done the serious business of clarifying Friday's Dallas Morning News story about the Dallas Independent School District's homework's-for-suckers policy that isn't, not really, kinda-sorta, maybe just a little? For now, then, a deep, though also deeply suspicious, sigh of relief amongst those of us with kids in or about to enter the district; just had to spike an Unfair Park guest column written by a formerly outraged former colleague who's got kids in the district. (Still, she wonders, "Why can't DISD say this stuff upfront?! Honestly, they do the worst job of communicating of any entity I've ever seen. Why didn't they e-mail everybody on their e-mail list the day after the story broke and say 'here's the full story'?")

So, to brighten the day of the fist-shakers and naysayers, this note from the district's Web site: "TEA recognizes 26 Dallas ISD schools as Exemplary, 77 Recognized." Sure 'nuff, from the looks of this rather lengthy list. So very proud too: Turns out, my elementary school (F.P. Caillet) got "recognized"; my middle school (Alex W. Spence) and high school (Thomas Jefferson) are merely "academically acceptable," good enough. So, let the school year begin! --Robert Wilonsky

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