Mayor of Dallas Tom Leppert considers city takeover of DISD

[Vicman]

http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/dn/latestnews/stories/022209dnmetmayordisd.3ebacba.html

Mayor of Dallas Tom Leppert is considering a city takeover of Dallas ISD.

Would this mean redrawing DISD to fit the Dallas City Boundaries? (And exclude Wilmer, Hutchins, parts of Highland Park, unincorporated areas, etc.) (the article, AFAIK, doesn't state)

[Spjz]

Three letters: "W" "T" "F"

[jswilson64]

Hey, wow, that sounds great. Let's give the mayor control over the school tax money, too. The city does such a great job managing their own budget, after all. /sarcasm


Momma said never to pray about money. I'm gonna give her a call and see if this is an exception.

[xen0blue]

uh, doesn't dallas already own DISD?

[Spjz]

^uh, no.

[smudoode]

I support this.

[cowboyeagle05]

To think people hated Laura Miller for the strong Mayor campaign she was only supporting a change that would have not gone into effect until she left now Leppert wants the School Board at his feet. I know the DISD is very important in making Dallas the City to live, learn, and work in but taking over the School District is too far.

[gshelton91]

I think this is a great idea! One of the key problems with DISD is that the elected school board is too disconnected from the electorate. They seem to be always elected at a different time from other major elections and each race is so small that it generates very little public awareness about the candidates.

On the other hand a good school system is key to any Mayor achieving their goals for this city. In fact DISD is one of the big problems the city faces. The Mayor campaign is a major event with much public scrutiny --- the public would get an opportunity to know what the education goals are of various officials that we don't get now with school board elections.

DISD is broken and we can't keep using the same solution and expecting a different result.

[trolleygirl]

To think people hated Laura Miller for the strong Mayor campaign she was only supporting a change that would have not gone into effect until she left now Leppert wants the School Board at his feet. I know the DISD is very important in making Dallas the City to live, learn, and work in but taking over the School District is too far.

To far? The DISD has already scored points for going "too far". Almost 100 million dollar budget shortfall and what does the Superintendent do, with full support and blessings of the board? Fire teachers and blame it on some phony-baloney administrative oversight ("the schools just hired a bunch of teachers and, whoops, didn't nobody know there wasn't no money for it!")

DISD is precariously close to getting taken over by the state, so I really don't think it's such a bad idea to have some local control and get those morons who've been consistently hiring even more moronic superintendents for the past two decades OUT OF OFFICE.

[cowboyeagle05]

I support a total separation between City Government and School District I've seen it work in large school districts the size of Dallas. If the council was becoming the board I might sort of support that but it wouldn't work either. Consolidating the DISD under the Mayor's hand seems like we are giving all the power to one position.

[AeroD]

Consolidating the DISD under the Mayor's hand seems like we are giving all the power to one position.

The devil is in the details. Until we see language, we don't know that.

But I do support the concept of having DISD administered by City Hall.

[cowboyeagle05]

The devil is in the details. Until we see language, we don't know that.

Yes I agree I will refrain from making some kind of crazy "King of Dallas" accusations considering we have no idea what Leppert really wants nor would the control of DISD hardly give him KING like powers worthy of such a fun conspiracy. ;)

[AeroD]

Yes I agree I will refrain from making some kind of crazy "King of Dallas" accusations considering we have no idea what Leppert really wants nor would the control of DISD hardly give him KING like powers worthy of such a fun conspiracy. ;)

Ah yes, the elected monarchy who is subject to elections. :D

[Spjz]

An open question to anybody who supports the integration of the DISD and the City of Dallas: why do you think this will be an improvement? Is it because the DISD will better function under the direction of a single individual - in this case Mayor Leppert - or do you think that having a single election will be less confusing for voters and spur a greater turnout?

IMO the DISD is in the shape it's in because we've elected a bunch of boobs and failed to hold them accountable. The only difference between the boobs down at city a hall and the boobs on Ross Av is that the boobs at city hall have a much easier job.

[trolleygirl]

I support a total separation between City Government and School District I've seen it work in large school districts the size of Dallas.

Um, yeah and we've seen that model work so well here in Dallas...

[trolleygirl]

An open question to anybody who supports the integration of the DISD and the City of Dallas: why do you think this will be an improvement?

Because the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results.

[eirin]

Perhaps this can lead Dallas to coin the term "municipalization". Sorry if this term has been used before, just thought it went well with the "nationalization of banks" idea being tossed around lately.

[tstein7240]

I am far from an expert on this subject... but a few key items make me want the public to debate this
- When NYC, Wash DC and Chicago went to a system in which the mayor oversees the ISD's, the schools improved
- The DISD has an awful reputation - leading to families with money moving to the suburbs/sending their kids to private school. Thus, a large number parents who should be active in the individual school are gone
- I don't buy the arguement that the Superintendent needs to be an "educator" instead of a businessman. This role calls for a CEO. Do you need a food chemist to be the CEO of Frito Lay? Or does a telecom CEO need a background of working a switchboard?
- one of the main arguements I have heard since this came out is neighborhood representation. Loosely translated, Latinos want their representation on the board. African American's want theirs. Whites want theirs. At the end of the day - this doesn't hold water. For ANY Dallas Citizen, the only concern should be giving our students the best possible education.

[Cliff Dweller]

I said during the campaign, and I still believe, Leppert is to be commended for at least raising the issue. It has been too easy for too long for City officials to just throw up their hands regarding DISD and say "not my problem!"
Clearly, DISD has a profound effect on the whole city and deserves attention from all of us. In fact I think one reason the boobs (tm spjz) on City Council are marginally smarter than the boobs on the School Board is that the voters are paying more attention. The vast majority of voters have no idea what DISD district they're in, who represents them or when he/she was elected.
I don't know the answer, but I support the mayor and anyone else who wants to look seriously at the problem. Put some ideas out there, and let's see if we can't improve on this horrible system.

[Mballar]

I'd like to see a takeover by the Mayor's Office for. . . let's say 10 years. That should be enough time to see if it works or not. If not, then switch back to Independent School District control. There can be no doubt, to anyone paying attention to DISD for the last 2 decades, that the status quo IS NOT working.

[RobertB]

- one of the main arguements I have heard since this came out is neighborhood representation. Loosely translated, Latinos want their representation on the board. African American's want theirs. Whites want theirs. At the end of the day - this doesn't hold water. For ANY Dallas Citizen, the only concern should be giving our students the best possible education.
An admirable post-racial view of the world indeed, but it omits the city's sad history. DISD was under court supervision for years because of blatant discrimination up through the '70s.

It used to be that "the only concern should be giving our students the best possible education" was indeed the motto. The problem was that the emphasis was on "our students" -- meaning, of course, the white students. Dallas was hardly alone, of course, but that doesn't make the scars any less real.

Personally, I don't think Leppert is expecting the Legislature to give him authority to take over the DISD. I think he's looking at the current process. That would involve a takeover by the TEA, and his nomination as the district's overseer. The irony, of course, is that we saw this process in action quite recently, in Wilmer-Hutchins... a district that is now part of DISD.

[Lakewooder]

However, Hispanics went to white schools and were counted as white - that went for Asians and everybody else but blacks. Blacks 'were allowed' to go to white schools in 1967. DISD was hardly alone in the discrimination but since the suburbs were excused from the suit by Highland Park Judge Mac Taylor, they did not have to pay the price.

[hamiltonpl]

However, Hispanics went to white schools and were counted as white - that went for Asians and everybody else but blacks. Blacks 'were allowed' to go to white schools in 1967. DISD was hardly alone in the discrimination but since the suburbs were excused from the suit by Highland Park Judge Mac Taylor, they did not have to pay the price.

For your conspiracy to work, at least 3 Fifth Circuit judges and 9 Supreme Court Justices would also need to be in on the Highland Park conspiracy. According to them, Taylor followed the law (in regards to HPHS being desegregated). The Fifth Circuit actually reversed many parts of Taylor's desegregation plan. But the appellate court did not overturn the HPISD portion of Taylor's decision.

Would a DISD-educated judge decided it differently? No. Barefoot Sanders, educated at North Dallas High School, took over the Tasby litigation from Judge Taylor. Sanders didn't see it any differently than Judge Taylor, the HPHS grad. Your conspiracy theory doesn't work because a DISD-educated federal judge also found that the DISD was segregated and that HPISD was not.

If you honestly believe that a federal judge would throw a case because his high school alma-mater was involved, I fear your civics education at Woodrow was academically unacceptable.

[RobertB]

I don't know if he was saying that HPISD was excluded just because of the HP judge. Exclusion of suburbs from the Brown v. Board decision was a long-standing and extremely unfortunate precedent set long before. How might our cities have evolved if "white flight" to the de facto segregation of the suburbs didn't happen?

I'm sure Judge Mac Taylor didn't have much choice but to reject any attempt to pull HPISD into the larger suit... on the other hand, I'd be surprised if he shed any tears over it at the time.

[Lakewooder]

As Lakewood/East Dallas intervened in the suit to preserve the natural integration of Woodrow and J.L. Long, I think I know a little about this. All of the history and politics does not get written into the court records. I was there. Where were you?

Why don't you do a little research on the intervenors and report back?

Judge Sanders did not come along for about ten years and the suburbs had already been excluded about five or six years before.

Where, pray tell did all the black children in other districts go to school?

The fact remains that the desegration court order did not work because most of the whites ran to the suburbs which were excluded from the suit.

[hamiltonpl]

It's really simple. DISD had designated "white" schools, like Woodrow Wilson, where blacks were excluded. In contrast, HP simply didn't have that "exclusive" rule. (Most likely because there weren't enough blacks in the district to make a separate school necessary). I'm not saying that the HP harbored no racist sentiment. I have no doubt that it did. And I agree that our cities would be much different if Brown v. Board was decided differently. But assuming that suburbs were merely excluded from the analysis is not valid. HPISD was sued along with the DISD in the Tasby litigation. However, the Fifth Circuit agreed that HPISD was not segregated by law -- twice. And Barefoot Sanders agreed.

Practically speaking, it has more to do with the fact that large urban districts like Dallas had the highest number of blacks, and therefore were most impacted by the desegregation ruling.

[Lakewooder]

So then you can prove that blacks were not in separate schools in HPISD, RISD, GISD, Irving ISD, Grand Prairie ISD, Mesquite ISD, Duncanville ISD, DeSoto ISD, CFBISD etc. etc. ?

[hamiltonpl]

So then you can prove that blacks were not in separate schools in HPISD, RISD, GISD, Irving ISD, Grand Prairie ISD, Mesquite ISD, Duncanville ISD, DeSoto ISD, CFBISD etc. etc. ?

Yes, as far as HPISD is concerned. Years of trials, multiple juries, two district judges, six appellate judges, and nine supreme court justices have said so. I will ceratinly entertain your opinion if you are the entire supreme court writing under the "Lakewooder" handle. It is only then that your opinion really counts.

[RobertB]

So then you can prove that blacks were not in separate schools in HPISD, RISD, GISD, Irving ISD, Grand Prairie ISD, Mesquite ISD, Duncanville ISD, DeSoto ISD, CFBISD etc. etc. ?
I found out recently that Mesquite's "Colored" school was near the present-day intersection of I-635 and Scyene Rd. What's your point?

If you're wondering what happened to the colored schools, I'd direct you to this audio story: A Minister Recalls The Pain Of Segregation (http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=100885469). Sheridan, AR had segregated schools until Brown v. Board. When the decision became law, they didn't just shut down the colored school. They moved all the black families out of the city limits, then dug a big hole and bulldozed the school into it.

I don't know what happened to the black students in all those towns. But it's easy to forget two things: in the '50s and '60s, those were little towns in the sticks. And it's not uncommon for a small rural town to be all-white -- enforceable by "whites-only" property deeds.

[trolleygirl]

Uh, can we get back to TLep being the school czar?

There are a lot of poeple who think that managing a school district is some bug mysterious task, one that is best handled by an "educator".

[tamtagon]

I really liked Hinohosa at first, seemed like he had some good ideas - like teaching English and Spanish in elementary school - but he just didnt seem to know how function as the boss of the big organization. The problems of educating being faced by Dallas communities are most easily, efficiently, and thoroughly addressed in elementary school.

[UrbanHope]

After going to two DISD community meetings recently (each feeder HS had one), I can tell you that there are serious disparities with respect to the attitudes of school officials towards the public and the students.

The main thing is that some principals are engaged, and some are not.

I wish I was taping to show the disparity. It's not a racial or economic thing that determined my opinion, but some school officials are not engaged. Somebody in DISD needs to be pounding the table. It's like some schools have go-getters, and some have shoulder shruggers that are just like "whatever."

Right now, there is not enough collaboration. In many instances, city officials including myself offer to help but we get the brush-off. I'm not sure about the cure, but sure know what the problem is.

[gshelton91]

An open question to anybody who supports the integration of the DISD and the City of Dallas: why do you think this will be an improvement? Is it because the DISD will better function under the direction of a single individual - in this case Mayor Leppert - or do you think that having a single election will be less confusing for voters and spur a greater turnout?

IMO the DISD is in the shape it's in because we've elected a bunch of boobs and failed to hold them accountable. The only difference between the boobs down at city a hall and the boobs on Ross Av is that the boobs at city hall have a much easier job.

I think the problem comes down the the school board and how they are elected. Even neighborhoods like Lakewood are just too big for small town style elections of supposedly people we already know to work. Having the Mayor run the thing is not a perfect solution but at least the buck would stop with a single individual with clear accountability to the electorate. And a strong school system impacts all the other things the City is trying to do to improve it self.

I also agree the superintendent should be more of a CEO then an educator --

Finally, I don't think it is the education part of our system that is letting us down. I think it is the ability of the school system to encourage, motivate and reward parents to be more involved in their child's education. And, working with businesses to make sure parents (particularly poorer parents) have the opportunity to be more involved in their child's education.

We all have a stake in this --- it affects the need for more law enforcement, the availability of quality workers and the capabilities of our tax base.

[tstein7240]

Uh, can we get back to TLep being the school czar?

There are a lot of poeple who think that managing a school district is some bug mysterious task, one that is best handled by an "educator".

I have had this discussion with my mother-in-law - an elementary teacher in smaller West Texas town. She has been heavily involved in the teachers union and is a firm believer that everyone involved should be an educator.

I come from the business side of the world, and think there are more real-world "business" and management issues go along with a Superintendent's role than education.

[Someone]

Finally, I don't think it is the education part of our system that is letting us down. I think it is the ability of the school system to encourage, motivate and reward parents to be more involved in their child's education. And, working with businesses to make sure parents (particularly poorer parents) have the opportunity to be more involved in their child's education.

We all have a stake in this --- it affects the need for more law enforcement, the availability of quality workers and the capabilities of our tax base.

hahahahahahahahhahahahahahahah

thanks for the huge laughs

what more do you want schools to do they already feed the damn kids two times a day for the "parent" and what the hell kind of a worthless parent needs a REWARD for being involved in their damn kids education....here is a reward you either show up to hear why your idiot child is failing and axing a foo all day or you can pick up trash and scrub graffiti for 20 hours of community service next to your failed moron child

and if by "business" you mean the welfare office of the federal and state government then yes I am all for that.....no pass cut in welfare....we already feed the "chilwren" two times a day so a cut in benefits should only hurt the fat mom.....and since when is it the responsibility of a business to identify, hunt down, and drag back the babie daddie to be responsible for its fun baby

cry me a river it is total worthless feel good BS that you just tossed out that got us where we are in the first place

a damn REWARD for parents......what a horribly stupid idea :drool: :rolleyes:

[Columbus Civil]

you forgot to throw in some mexican words

[Someone]

you forgot to throw in some mexican words

que es Mexican words main....and why do people automatically associate improper English with any particular minority.....how racist of YOU to make that assumption

[RobertB]

No, I think he meant that you forgot to throw in some anti-Mexican sentiment. Because your post looks like the "comments" that pass for content on the Morning News, Houston Chronicle, USA Today, and other dying newspaper websites. The only thing that's missing from your "they already feed the damn kids twice a day" rant is something about how immigrant children are "breaking" the system -- as though some children are less worthy than others (which isn't what *I* learned in Sunday School).

In a perfect world, parents take responsibility. I know I do. I also know I'm not in that perfect world. Therefore, I think it would be a good idea to work with what we got, not condemn poor children to another generation of failure.

[JSteffen]

que es Mexican words main....and why do people automatically associate improper English with any particular minority.....how racist of YOU to make that assumption

He is not racist. He hates everyone equally.

[GennadyB]

Someone needs a hug!

[Columbus Civil]

I don't hate you, JSteffen.

[incrediculous]

I love you, ColumbusCivil.

[RobertB]

Group hug!

(I was going to look for an appropriate image, but even if the Google Image results are technically "safe for work", the cubes here are awfully close together, and there's an awful lot of exposed manflesh on the results page. Ew.)

[incrediculous]

Nevermind...

*self censored edit*

[tamtagon]

No, I think he meant that you forgot to throw in some anti-Mexican sentiment. Because your post looks like the "comments" that pass for content on the Morning News, Houston Chronicle, USA Today, and other dying newspaper websites.

I know that's right