Reply With Quote^really?
When people ask me why I love Dallas so, I'll point 'em to this article. ^
^really?
Yeah....all kinds of kookiness that only happens here, in a large Texas town. I mean, they could be talking about boring 'ol El Paso (where I think there are some real serious big-time problems), but instead, the NYTimes is reporting about Jabari and fake-drugs and topless bars in Dallas. Oh and Mayor Miller's famous filthy mouth. It's not Dallas unless we're shootin' and cussin' and takin' lunch at titty bars. It's soooooo JR Ewing. Why can't the DCVB play up our strong points and do campain like Living Large with cartoon of Mayor Miller with a diologe baloon that reads "F*#%!!", holding a big high-powered rifle in front of the Million Dollar Saloon?
What's really great about all this is that Dallas will get over it all and we will survive just fine and this city will be a great city once again. Like the article said, we're going through some growing pains right now (I think I've said that very thing before in another thread.) At least our growing pains are humurous in retrospect. And what better way to ring in the new year than to laugh at ourselves? If we can't at least do that much, then we're all doomed.
And I think we can, and I think it's part of what I love so much about Dallas- the people who make it so interesting. And ya gotta admit- it's pretty damn ineresting here, hardly a dull moment.
With all the bad news about Dallas and how Houston is doing better according to the New York Times, here is some better news for Dallas. At least DISD is doing better than HISD.
Thousands can leave low-rated schools
293,000 Texas students eligible to transfer to a higher-rated campus
10:49 PM CST on Friday, December 17, 2004
By TERRENCE STUTZ / The Dallas Morning News
AUSTIN – The number of low-rated public schools under Texas' education choice law soared this year, giving more than 293,000 students at the state's worst campuses the right to transfer to a better school.
The Texas Education Agency listed 420 schools statewide Friday, up from 126 a year ago. The Dallas Independent School District had the second-most, with 48 campuses – up from 20 last year. Houston led the state with 62 schools that failed to make the grade.
Even with the transfer option, though, few students are expected to take advantage of the Public Education Grant program, primarily because transportation is not provided and school districts are not required to accept students from neighboring districts.
But Republican leaders in the Legislature may use that fact to argue that students need vouchers that can be used at private schools to truly be free of low-performing public schools. Voucher backers could use the list of 420 low-rated schools to choose sites for a test program.
State education officials attributed the large increase in failing schools to the tougher performance standards that were introduced this year. Those standards were based in large part on the state's redesigned achievement test, the Texas Assessment of Knowledge and Skills.
"We expected to see an increase because schools are being held to higher standards under the accountability system, and we added test scores in science and social studies to the criteria," said Debbie Ratcliffe, a spokeswoman for the Texas Education Agency.
"Low student performance on the science test was one of the most common reasons that schools were rated academically unacceptable this year," she said.
A DISD spokesman said officials expected to have more campuses on this year's list.
"The numbers are what they are, and we're trying to do what we can," said Donald Claxton. "We'll do better next year."
Other school districts in the Dallas area that had campuses on the state list were Arlington, Birdville, Carrollton-Farmers Branch, DeSoto, Grand Prairie, Irving, Lake Worth, Lancaster, Lewisville, Richardson and Wilmer-Hutchins. The Fort Worth school district had 10 campuses on the list.
Making the list
To make the list, a school had to have more than 50 percent of its students fail the TAKS or its predecessor – the TAAS – in any two of the last three years or have been rated academically unacceptable this year or in 2002. Performance ratings were not issued in 2003.
Students from those schools can transfer to another public school in their own district or another district – if that district agrees to accept them. Those that do receive a financial incentive from the state – an extra 10 percent per pupil.
The names of eligible schools are being published now because most districts consider transfer requests several months before the start of the new school year, education officials said. Parents must be notified of the option by Feb. 1, with students allowed to attend a new school next fall.
Students at substandard schools also have the right to transfer to a better school under the federal No Child Left Behind Act – but the number of eligible campuses is less than half that under the Texas Public Education Grant program. The federal law was based in part on Texas school reforms enacted under Gov. George W. Bush.
In September, 199 Texas schools were put on the federal list – including about three dozen regular and charter schools in the Dallas-Fort Worth area. Passing rates on the TAKS were the main criteria in compiling that list, which was dominated by high schools.
Under the federal program, school districts must provide transportation to a transferring student, unlike the state program.
Since the Public Education Grant program began in the late 1990s, just under 2,000 students – including 127 last year – have used it to transfer to a new school.
Low participation
Critics of the program's current requirements contend that participation won't increase significantly until transportation is offered and school districts are required to accept students from low-rated campuses in neighboring districts.
Ms. Ratcliffe said another reason for the low participation is that many districts have made it easier for students to transfer within the district, regardless of the state requirements.
The state's charter school program also gives an alternative to parents unhappy with their regular neighborhood school. Texas has about 275 independent charter campuses across the state that educate nearly 70,000 students.
Supporters of school vouchers have long cited the low participation in the Public Education Grant program as one reason why Texas needs to expand school choice options to private schools.
They have urged the Legislature to allow students at failing schools to transfer to any public or private school using state vouchers to pay tuition but have had no success. Next year, though, voucher supporters may have their best chance, with social conservative activists and Republican leaders making vouchers a high priority.
School boards, PTAs and teacher groups have vigorously opposed vouchers, contending it would drain millions of dollars from public schools.
Staff writer Tawnell D. Hobbs in Dallas contributed to this report.
E-mail tstutz@dallasnews.com
"One of Dallas' strongest communities, Lake Highlands boasts a true sense of neighborhood spirit. Local stores reflect passionate support for Lake Highlands schools with school posters and signs. True to its name, the area features handsome traditional homes up and down rolling hills and charming, winding roads." --Lake Highlands People
I can agree there is lots of amusing muses in Dallas, but I don't know if the end result is success or lots of progress. I think Dallas is lucky it is where it is and that it is very young. Otherwise you might want to call it Detroit.Originally Posted by trolleygirl
Hmm, I don't know. Dallas doesn't have alot of the big, heavy, largely abandoned industry and manufacturing like Detroit does. I think a lot of the heavy industrialized cities in the northeast and midwest suffer from an abundance of superfundsites. We have a few brownfields here, but nothing like the size and scope of some of these other cities. I live next to a big brownfield that's full of debris from when they dug the DART tunnel- and that's nothing near the kinds of chemical and toxic brownfields seen elsewhere. Our industries and plants and manufacturing are a tad different than Detroit, and think that has a lot to do with why that city in particular has experienced what it has. We don't have DuPont, we don't have Ford, we don't have GE, we don't have any paper or textile mills, but we do have a few concrete batching plants and lots of construction waste. The brownfield that the Trinity Interpretive Center is going on was full of construction debris. All they did to clean it was dig it up, and put it in another hole nearby. It had wood and nails and shingles and playwood and bricks and such. It wasn't a big groundwater plume. I don't think we have any of those here.
Believe me. The New York Times does a good job of "exposing" just about every city in the U.S. There was an article not too long ago on Baltimore and how it was, "A rejuvenated harbor at the foot of a sinking pit" or something to that affect. It chronicled city hall corruption, deteriorated housing, the worst heroin problem of any North American major city, a faltering economy and so on.
Nobody likes to see it in print, obviously, but the problems in every major city are real.
Heck, the LA Times wrote an article about how the average income and unemployment in Los Angeles proper was becoming so out of wack that LA was essentially becoming a series of swank addresses in Westwood and Bel Air surrounded by a dying middle class.
These articles exaggerate where the author feels it adds juice to the article but they do a great job of at least getting someone's head out of the clouds.
Celebrating the urban greatness of Texas: Houston, San Antonio, Dallas, Austin, El Paso and Fort Worth.
Dallas is No. 1 for most in poll
66% say it's among top cities; survey to help with land-use plan
11:51 PM CST on Wednesday, December 29, 2004
By DAVE LEVINTHAL / The Dallas Morning News
The typical Dallas resident likes the city because of the choices it offers, hates it for its traffic and believes education should be its chief priority.
Such are the findings of a city-commissioned survey aimed at determining how residents perceive their city.
About two-thirds of 783 residents surveyed agreed Dallas "is still one of the best cities in the world." Two-fifths of respondents agreed Dallas "is in decline."
"The numbers are really higher than I thought they would be," Acting City Manager Mary Suhm said. "It shows such an optimism and a belief in the future, and I'm invigorated by it."
City Council member Veletta Forsythe Lill said: "This is a good-news survey. People want to see concrete change, and they're willing to help do it. It gives one a real sense of hope."
The survey, conducted by Tuerff-Davis EnviroMedia Inc. of Austin and released Wednesday night, comes ahead of the creation of a comprehensive land-use plan that city officials hope will become a template for Dallas' economic, environmental and social improvement.
Dallas government and planning consultants collaborating with the city are conducting community meetings designed to help shape the land-use plan. They say they want to use the responses to the survey as benchmarks for the plan's success.
Residents produced a variety of responses when asked to name what they like most about living in Dallas. No single answer garnered more than 11 percent of responses, though "variety of choices," "easy to get around" and "it's my hometown" are the top three.
"To me, it's the flip side of 'Dallas isn't known for any one thing.' There are a lot of things to like about Dallas," Ms. Suhm said.
Residents were less ambiguous about what they don't like: traffic (24.8 percent), crime/drugs/violence (15.9 percent) and city government (7.3 percent) ranked highest.
Heat, taxes and racial tensions followed.
The biggest threats to Dallas: Crime/drugs/violence ranked highest, followed by pollution, a bad economy and city government.
Asked "which one area should be Dallas' most important priority for investment," slightly more than half said the city's southern sector should be. About one-fourth said the city's center should be the city's top investment priority, and one-tenth considered North Dallas the top priority.
Overall, almost four-fifths of citizens surveyed agreed that Dallas government should invest in its southern sector.
But the perception of South Dallas as crime infested and impoverished lingers.
More than one-third of respondents, when asked about their initial thoughts on the southern sector, replied with "poor/crime/bad neighborhood." The second-ranking answer: "Needs development."
Tuerff-Davis EnviroMedia representative Robin Rather is scheduled to brief the City Council on the survey on Jan. 5, Assistant City Manager Ryan Evans wrote to council members Wednesday night in a memo.
E-mail dlevinthal@dallasnews.com
"One of Dallas' strongest communities, Lake Highlands boasts a true sense of neighborhood spirit. Local stores reflect passionate support for Lake Highlands schools with school posters and signs. True to its name, the area features handsome traditional homes up and down rolling hills and charming, winding roads." --Lake Highlands People
Interesting. I wonder how many people thought we needed to change our system of government..........
I hate to do this, agree with ace, but you have to separate out a city from its government. When those people were responding to questions about Dallas they were responding about their neighborhods. The Dallas does not mean the Dallas municipal government, and it nowhere suggests an effective municipal government. On the contrary 40% thinking the city is in decline speaks to an underlying unease about the city's direction which comes from city hall as much as any other quantifiable place.
Who voted that Dallas was in decline? They really need to take another look.
"And we will probably be judged not by the monuments we build but by those we have destroyed."-"Farewell to Penn Station," New York Times Editorial, October 30, 1963
Standing Up for Suburbia: It's more diverse than you might think
10:01 PM CST on Tuesday, February 15, 2005
http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcont...rbs.97a17.html
Everybody knows what's wrong with the Dallas suburbs: They're boring, they're all-white, and so altogether lacking in diversity that only Philistines would choose to live there. Except this is not true. It is a self-congratulatory fantasy that urban dwellers are tempted to believe – to their own detriment. Take Plano, for example. Forty percent of its school population is minority – double the 1995 number. And Collin County, considered by Dallas bien-pensants to be an Anglo-Saxon bantustan, saw its foreign-born population grow 2.5 times faster than its native-born American population from 1990 to 2000.
True, suburban sprawl generates a certain architectural sameness; think of the ubiquitous but bleak strip-mall shopping center. But these ugly, generic spaces can also conceal the kind of cultural diversity architecturally attractive urban shopping districts only dream of. It's a fact: You stand as good a chance of finding great ethnic food in suburban strip malls as you do inside the Loop. Why are minorities setting up house (and restaurants) in the suburbs? Maybe for the same reason most folks do: lower crime rate, better public schools, more affordable housing. Dallas will never succeed in bringing middle-class families of whatever cultural and ethnic background back to the city unless we face the real reasons why they aren't settling here.
Looking down on suburbia as a bastion of monocultural blandness and veiled racism might feel good to urban sophisticates, but it's a self-deception that will do nothing to help the cause of diversifying Dallas economically. If the city is only attractive to the poor and working class, the childless and those wealthy enough to send their children to private schools, Dallas will never pull back from the tipping point.
“We shape our Cities, thereafter they shape us.”
Did somebody post this today?
City nears deal on downtown growth
Compromise could spur redevelopment effort for part of city's center
07:30 AM CST on Thursday, March 10, 2005
By DAVE LEVINTHAL / The Dallas Morning News
A long-elusive compromise is crystallizing between downtown Dallas businesspeople and City Hall officials over how to best redevelop the city's center.
The compromise, as city and business leaders describe it, would probably include a scaled-down, private sector-led "local government corporation" that would oversee redevelopment for at least a portion of downtown.
Creation of such a corporation to cover all of downtown – the standing goal of the Central Dallas Association, which represents center-city businesses – now appears unlikely, even the proposal's staunchest advocates acknowledge.
But City Hall won't force its will on the business community. The private sector will play a significant role in the push to fill downtown with more retail, restaurants and housing, said Mayor Laura Miller, who previously has advocated a full-scale local government corporation.
"Something is better than nothing. That's a victory," CDA President Alice Murray said. "Both sides are trying to prove they can make smart decisions for the future of downtown Dallas. We want to create a partnership. We're continuing to have conversations."
Ms. Miller said: "The ultimate goal is that business leaders and City Hall work together as a team. We have to have something that everyone will be happy with. And as long as the business community is happy, I'm happy."
Representatives from the public and private sectors say they've met privately in recent weeks in preparation for a presentation by Assistant City Manager Ryan Evans to the City Council on potential downtown redevelopment plans.
Mr. Evans wouldn't detail what his presentation would include but said he believes it will appeal to all interests.
Meanwhile, City Hall and the CDA are bolstering their internal efforts in preparation for the next phase of downtown development.
The CDA consolidated other downtown redevelopment groups into its structure. Acting City Manager Mary Suhm says the city is hiring new employees for its economic development department and is four to six weeks from hiring a new department director.
Some sort of local government corporation would especially help expedite redevelopment staples such as permit and construction approvals, said Ted Hamilton, who has turned vacant structures such as the Davis Building and the Dallas Power & Light building into high-end apartments.
"We've had to go down to City Hall about 12 times for the DP&L building. That takes up a lot of time for us and for city staff," Mr. Hamilton said. "Anything the city can do to speed up this process is helpful."
Council member Veletta Forsythe Lill says she's "very hopeful we can find a compromise. Time is money."
"City Hall needs to be an equal partner," said David Biegler, the CDA's outgoing chairman.
And the more time that elapses before the public and private sectors forge a redevelopment agreement, both sides acknowledge, the longer downtown Dallas' full potential for growth goes unrealized.
^Yeah it was posted as a link in the "Your Opinion of Storng Mayor" Forum. I think its more appropriate here though.
A wise man speaks because he has something to say; a fool because he has to say something. - Plato
"All the kids I grew up with that went to private christian schools were worse than the public school kids...at least in terms of drug use and sex"
How true.
In Houston, a friend of my sister went to Lamar High School (a Houston ISD school which made Newsweek's 2005 top 1,000 high schools list) and Saint Pius High School...
1. She describes the academics of both schools as being the same (except you have to pay tuition for Pius)
2. Pius is more of a party school
She actually liked Pius better, but that has nothing to do with the academics.
Oh, and Lamar gets many students from River Oaks, Uptown Houston, and West University Place. Similar things happen to Bellaire and Westside in Houston ISD and Memorial and Stratford in Spring Branch ISD.
As for my older sister, she graduated from Lamar High and is going on to DePauw University in Indiana. I attend another Houston ISD high school.
Last edited by Vicman; 21 August 2005 at 07:20 PM.
There's a follow-up "Tipping Point" section in today's Dallas Morning News.
Here it is...
Dallas at the Tipping Point: UPDATE
Somethings ya just can't change.
This seems like more fluff than the first one... maybe it is just the personal stories.
I hope they are committed to doing this on a regular basis.
^Frequently, I have a difficult time reading all the way through DMN special reports, and it's not just because of the fluff. After a couple paragraphs, I begin to sense in too many of the 'in-depth community focused' articles a polarized agenda, attempts to shape puplic opinion and a lack of objectivity.
Way more fluff... It would also help if the people that wrote the economic development part knew the geographic different between Oak Cliff and South Dallas. Clueless
Last edited by UrbanHope; 17 October 2005 at 12:01 PM.
One of the things I remember reading was the note that people are "flocking" to the suburbs. When last year teh city of Dallas once again grew in population and there is continous investment. Its interesting how the media likes to side step stuff. They have reported the progress the DISD has been making with improving test scores etc. etc. But the DMN states facts only in their convience and really contradicts itself many of times.
I do believe progress must continue with the DISD. But I think much progress needs to be made with the DMN and how they report. Too many "housewives" and their husbands take the media as the bible for what's going on. The media can really be put to blame for much of the recent decline in Deep Elum, in my opinion.
Children are our future, fix the schools. I will admit there is a racial divide, as whites don't like for their children to attend schools where they are the minority. Now DISD is contemplating a rule to have teachers speak spanish, is that going to help? They are recruiting teachers from cities in Mexico? We are supposed to be pulling people up to higher educational levels, not allowing them to get comfortable.
My company reviewed resumes for a position requiring a degree, most of the applicants were white (a couple girls), (and more than half were originally from Dallas), more than a couple Asians (one girl), two black (one girl) (both NOT originally from Dallas) and ONE Hispanic guy originally from California. (I entered all the resumes into our database, only seeing some of these people in person) Results: Hispanic guy was offered the job (qualified, smart and bi-lingual), but had gotten a better offer and took something else, next a white guy turned down the offer, black guy offered next, but never returned any calls, white guy took the job - Graduate of Plano and A&M with very little experience who turns out speaks a lot of Spanish. Back-up offer was made to another white girl, who now works for us too, different position than she interviewed for though.
Who here attended DISD? If not, did you attend public elsewhere or private in Dallas or elsewhere. I attended public in Houston suburbs and it was fine, (like Plano was 10 years ago) and I speak enough Spanish to get by, and could easily get better if I had a chance to use it more.
Last edited by DaKine; 17 October 2005 at 03:26 PM. Reason: DISD Grad - Lakewooder
I attended DISD from fourth grade to graduation. I was in the magnet schools most of that time (from 5th grade on). I graduated from Arts Magnet. I would put that school up against any of the suburban schools any day.
"Now DISD is going to force it's teachers to speak spanish, is that going to help?"
Actually this is incorrect and so is your use of "it's" -- A DISD graduate.
Sorry to be mean, just trying to make a point....
Sure, in fact the magnet schools should be better than any non-magnet suburban school. The regular schools should be equal to the suburban regular schools. Are the differences getting smaller? Yes, but the reason being DISD getting better or suburban schools falling is up for interpretation.
I read the tipping point section and was underwhelmed. Interesting to see the bar chart of city council and Miller responses to questions. Both my wife and I thought, without reading the caption, that the lady in the background of the cop's photo was a hooker they just arrested. Oh, it's just a clubgoer. Okey-dokey then...
RTG, graduate of a small private school in Arlington, and former resident of Arlington (ooohh, aaahh).
Edit:
This picture (hope it works):
"Ultimately, helmet laws save a few brains but destroy many hearts."
- T.J. DeMarco
Great point.
I too was underwhelmed- although I was happy to see my good friend Bob Curry featured. He's a relly great guy and he has only joined the code department recently- he was frustrated as a community activist/organizer and wanted to see if he could get in there and help make a difference. Pretty brave move if you ask me. I don't think I could hack it as a code officer in this city.
I sure hope that's not the only thing you found wrong with that sentence.
Jason
LW: I keep hearing about the Spanish-speaking requirements for DISD teachers and administrators - Can you tell me what they are moving towards? I thought that it was ... principals that would need to be bilingual? I'm just in the dark.
I do know I read recently that several DISD trustees want to implement an afrocentric educational curriculum, and are close to making moves to do so. Any information on this? How would this go over at WW, which has more Hispanic kids than AA's (i think)? Do you think this afrocentric program will drive more white families to other areas or private schools?
This country is such a mess.
Dallas uber alles
Principals at schools where there are more than 51% Latino students. Some schoiols can have an administrator be bilingual rather than the Principal.
OK, Jason I didn't want to be too theatrical!
We shall see about the Afro-centric studies --- however, I personally don't see anything wrong with all of us learning a bit more about such things...
The principal at Woodrow is Ruth Allen Vail. She speaks English, Spanish and French. She graduated from SMU and has also studied in France and Mexico. Mrs. Vail is a second-generation Wildcat (father is Dr. Edward Allen, class of 1965) who grew up on Avalon and is part-Hispanic.
The Hispanic and black parents just don't seem to show up at nearly the same rate as the Anglos, so I think these programs should be given a chance...
I think that the whole spanish for administrators and afrocentric studies is all kind of a waste of time. There is no research that says that schools with spanish speaking principals or principals that know afrocentricity educate students better. The administrators need to focus on being instructional leaders and make sure that the product that their teachers deliver is far superior than the schools that service the middle class population. Then maybe the middle class family will feel comfortable sending their children to them!
I believe that DISD has a lot to offer. I would like to see a push to take back the schools by the middle class families. That is the only way that we will see progress in Dallas and DISD!
I wonder if there's going to be a follow up report.
I didn't realize we had so many African immigrants in the DISD.
DAGNABBIT!
I wish they'd just concentrate on getting children the best education they can get.
Actually....the IRC and Catholic Charities have been locating refugees in Vickery Meadow area. At two of the schools, there are 28 and 32 languages spoken. A lot of the refugees are from Sudan and other African countries...I didn't realize we had so many African immigrants in the DISD.
But I "get" your point HPL.
Ya, if the focus returned to the child and his/her educational needs, the coveted improved test scores would actually mean something.
You just may get our wish. Please read the article below.
__________________________________________
DISD principals ordered to change their ways
Focus shifts to improving academic performance, rather than managing facilities
05:56 PM CST on Sunday, January 7, 2007
By KENT FISCHER / The Dallas Morning News
Dallas schools Superintendent Michael Hinojosa has staked his job on transforming DISD into one of the nation's best urban districts by 2010. Essentially, he wants to double the academic performance of students by then.
But while Dr. Hinojosa has publicly set that ambitious goal to boost test scores, among other measures of success, it's his 225 principals who will largely be responsible for making it a reality.
So the Dallas Independent School District is re-engineering the principal's job. Gone is the focus on campus operations and administration. Student learning is now the chief concern.
Principals are to be curriculum hawks and instructional coaches, responsible for identifying their schools' academic shortcomings and devising ways for teachers to address them. . .
Rest of the article can be found by clicking here.
A wise man speaks because he has something to say; a fool because he has to say something. - Plato
Great news.
DAGNABBIT!
Another 'Dallas at the Tipping Point' series would be nice about now. Seems like a lot has changed and a lot has stayed the same since 2004.
The 2010 Census pretty much confirmed the trends identified were in full force. While improvements are clearly there in Downtown, the trends on employment, education, and housing still remain throughout the city. The most important news, good as a sign of opportunity, bad for the city, from the census was the accelerating non-white middle class family movement outside the city into the suburbs. It was the big driver behind the city redistricting disagreements.
If this was the decade of the tipping point, this decade will be the turning point for Dallas. There is a lot of growth in the core of Dallas (Looking at Dan Branch's district which includes much of central Dallas was the only house district in Dallas to see growth).
If you thought schools were important, water is even more important, and Dallas has it.
Tighten the female dog!
While the baseline availability of water is important, to me, it is like energy. We waste so much of it that we can easily make major reductions in use with only tiny impacts to lifestyle. Whether it is cutting down on lawn watering or individual/group building rainwater cisterns or higher rates, numerous options exist. If anything, we may be faced with usage dropping quicker than expected and utilities owning more water than they can charge out, similar to tying decreasing gasoline volumes to road maintenance.
The very last thing impact is choice of home location.
Uptown and Downtown residents don't water turf grass. Sprinklers are giant water wasters when you look at the return.
Tighten the female dog!
The DMN really ought to do a Downtown at the Tipping Point update. The next two years will see as much growth in the greater downtown area as occurred from 2000-2006.
sounds like worse news for the suburbs
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