Education

I liked the previous session of the Texas Legislature a lot better. The Republicans concentrated on what I consider to be their innate concerns – dehumanizing women, disenfranchising minorities and putting Big Brother in the bathroom. I didn’t like what they did, but I did like that they wanted to…

Black and Hispanic students in Dallas public schools are more likely to get harsher discipline, lower grades and fewer opportunities than their white peers, according to a report from ProPublica. The report, which uses numbers mostly taken from data reported by schools to the U.S. Department of Education, shows that…

A Texas speech pathologist is suing Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton and the Pflugerville Independent School District over a Texas law that requires contractors and businesses to sign a pledge promising not to boycott Israel. For nine years, plaintiff Bahia Amawi signed an annual contract with Pflugerville ISD without an…

The 2019 Texas Legislature must act on behalf of children in the state, or risk that they will fall further behind their peers in the rest of the United States, according to a new report from Austin’s Center for Public Policy Priorities. The report also emphasizes the need for an…

Do you remember when it was fun to sit up election night watching the returns roll in? At our house we used to make popcorn. Now it’s like watching a dress rehearsal for the end times. We eat chocolate candy that’s really bad for us because why not? In fact,…

Well, I never. I never thought it would come to this, but I guess I might have to let the Dallas Citizens Council make me a member. After that, I might even have to join the Dallas Regional Chamber of Commerce. But let me promise you something right here. I…

Local and national organizations are teaming up to fight a portion of a proposed social studies standard before the Texas State Board of Education that opponents say is biased toward Israel and anti-Muslim. The 17 groups, which include Muslim, Jewish and Christian organizations, are particularly campaigning against this line: “Explain…

In some areas of Dallas, student loan debt burdens are 12 percent higher than the national average, according to new data from Generation Progress and Higher Ed, Not Debt. The data show that nationally, students typically put 6 percent of their paycheck toward student loans but in Dallas, many areas…

Dallas is a prosperous, forward-thinking place. It is, the tired catchphrase goes, a “world class city.” “Big Things Happen Here” is the city’s brand. Dallas is also where: More than 115,000 children live in poverty, among the worst rates of any large U.S. city. The median income is the lowest…

In Animal House, John Belushi’s “Bluto” and his fraternity brothers shoot a horse, throw a toga party, commence a food fight, molest an unconscious girl and get placed on double secret probation. In Old School, Will Ferrell’s “Frank the Tank” and his frat boys go streaking, tie cinder blocks to…

Everybody always says the schools should be the No. 1 issue in the city. I wonder how we’ll take it when that idea suddenly comes true? Maybe well, maybe not very well at all. Gov. Greg Abbott has been giving off strong signals in recent weeks that he thinks the…

Practice forgetfulness. Forget about the bitterness over the new statewide grading system for schools and school districts. Forget the whole debate over school reform in Dallas. For two seconds, do the good kind of forgetfulness. Now ponder this: The overwhelming objective evidence is that the Dallas public school system has…

The Observer asked Dr. Stephen F. Waddell, an experienced educator and leader in school innovation, for his take on Texas’ controversial new A-F grading system for public schools. See a longer bio and partial list of his bona fides at the end of his essay. This month school districts across…

Gov. Greg Abbott and Dallas School board member Miguel Solis held dueling press conferences Tuesday at public school campuses barely a mile apart in East Dallas, Abbott calling for higher pay for teachers and Solis asking where the money is. Unspoken was a startling new theme shared by both sides:…

Just before the end of the school year in June, the students who run Prosper High School’s award-winning student newspaper Eagle News Online found themselves wondering if they could still run a newspaper worthy of the national awards they’ve racked up over the last few years. Prosper High School principal…

Almost every school and every school district in Texas got a report card Wednesday, spelling out for parents, students and anyone else paying attention how the Texas Education Agency believes the institutions it oversees are performing. The new, Legislature-approved measures are easy to read and make it easier to compare…

There must be some ancient instinct buried somewhere in our Cro-Magnon genetic roots that makes people start squealing and whining like they’re going to die if you dare suggest there might be something wrong with their kids. And not just their own kids but kids who are in their care…

1Last December, a youth program issued a call seeking 50 local men to go to Dallas’ Dade Middle School for a mentorship breakfast to inspire boys. About 600 showed up, and the positive response made national headlines for a heartwarming viral story of men serving as role models to boys…

Dallas school trustee Joyce Foreman urged the Dallas City Council last week to begin using its power over real estate zoning as a sword to chop off new charter schools at the knees by denying zoning for new campuses. She accused the charters of bleeding the public school system of…

The staff of Prosper High School’s student news website Eagle Nation Online has racked up an impressive number of awards and a reputation for reporting on more than just pep rallies and school events. The students dig deep for sources on stories such as a report on how teachers “strongly…