On Tuesday morning, right after an African-American principal and an African-American superintendent had finished predicting a great future for East Dallas’ Lee Elementary and its new International Baccalaureate program, a woman buttonholed DISD trustee Mike Morath. After a few complimentary words about Morath’s efforts on behalf of the campus, she…
The neighborhoods surrounding Dallas ISD’s Robert E. Lee Elementary are much like the neighborhoods surrounding nearby Stonewall Jackson and Lakewood Elementary. That is, they are predominately white and upper middle class, with just a touch of East Dallas crunchiness. But while Stonewall and Lakewood bulge with kids from the neighborhood,…
In Dallas ISD, early childhood education has been a major push in the last year. It’s a move that administrators believe could one day in the future lower soaring poverty rates in a district where free and reduced lunch rates have steadily creeped toward 90 percent in recent years, and…
Vinita Hegwood, a Duncanville High School English teacher, has some strong opinions about white people, especially as it relates to what’s happened in Ferguson, Missouri. Friday night, she decided to share some of them. “Who the fuck made you dumb duck ass crackers think I give a squat fuck about…
It’s far too early to render judgment on Superintendent Mike Miles’ school-choice initiative. Eventually, he wants to open nearly three dozen specialized campuses that offer an alternative to neighborhood schools but aren’t as selective as magnets. Thus far, he’s opened just one: Mata Montessori, just south of White Rock Lake…
When it comes to reporting weapons in schools, kids are often each others’ best watchdogs. In light of the recent Washington high school shooting, and the school shootings in recent years at Sandy Hook, Virginia Tech and Columbine, police departments across the country are constantly brainstorming new ways to decrease…
On Friday, UNT officially began making its students’ daily bodily activities a little less uncomfortable, with the opening of several gender-neutral restrooms on campus. The move comes as part of the yearlong push by the university to combat campus discrimination. The school has committed $100,000 toward building gender-neutral restrooms. Restrooms…
Well before Wilmer-Hutchins High School basketball standout Troy Causey was beaten to death by a friend and on-court rival after being improperly recruited from Richardson ISD, it was clear to anyone paying attention that Dallas ISD’s athletic department was rotten. Superintendent Mike Miles’ subsequent house-cleaning was greeted as a righteous,…
As a rule, high school sucks. Now imagine going to high school thinking you could get infected with one of the most deadly viruses known to man. There are a few caveats to that, of course. One, ebola is not nearly as deadly as we like to think — far…
Early this morning, Dallas ISD received word from the Centers for Disease Control that five district students have been exposed to the Ebola virus. The students attend Emmett Conrad High School, Sam Tasby Middle School, Dan Rogers Elementary, and Hotchkiss Elementary. Jack Lowe Elementary, which is located close to Tasby…
“Universal pre-K” is the universal mantra of every school board member and education official in the city. It’s the elusive idea that all future, predominantly poor, kids in Dallas ISD will have gone through an aggressive early childhood education program, and that earlier exposure to vocabulary and learning will put…
Highland Park ISD announced at the end of last week that it would be suspending seven books from the high school reading list: Herman Hesse’s Siddhartha, Garth Stein’s The Art of Racing in the Rain, John Green’s An Abundance of Katherines, Toni Morrison’s Song of Solomon, Sherman Alexie’s The Absolutely…
In Dallas, the estimated number of homeless kids has been dismal recently. The Metro Dallas Homeless Alliance reports that the population of unaccompanied homeless kids is up 108 percent in just the last few years, and the number of homeless families is up 60 percent. And a recent Department of…
Highland Park High School announced it would be suspending seven books from the high school reading list, just in time for Banned Books Week. So what’s wrong with the books? Each of the seven, award-winning texts feature themes about sexuality or include passages that some parents find too racy. See…
Since allegations surfaced that NFL star Adrian Peterson abused multiple children at his Texas home, debate has swirled between pro- and anti-spanking parents. For the majority of North Texas schools, though, there’s no question: Spare the rod, spoil the child is official district disciplinary policy in all but a handful…
It’s been a rough week for State Board of Education members, who have upheld their loyalty to TEKS social studies requirements despite bipartisan opposition (although for different reasons, of course). On Tuesday, the board heard public commentary against proposed social studies textbooks. The publishers, required to conform outrageously biased state…
The internet has gone wild over the past few days with news that Adrian Peterson of the Minnesota Vikings is facing child abuse charges after disciplining his 4-year-old son with a switch, and was separately accused of leaving a scar on another 4-year-old son’s face. A native of Palestine, Texas,…
A kid who was suspended 10 days from high school is super awesome, according to a federal lawsuit filed by his parents. “He is currently taking honors classes and a higher level math class than most of his peers,” says a suit filed by his mother, Tiffany Macklin. The boy,…
As if Texas social studies textbooks haven’t been getting enough flack for pointed political and religious biases, a report released Monday by the National Center for Science Education highlights inaccuracies about climate change in proposed state textbooks. See also: SMU Academics Speak Out Against Political and Religious Bias in Texas…
Highland Park ISD plans to launch an elementary-level Spanish learning program next year. It’s a project that most in the district are embracing — after all, multilingualism is linked to dozens of developmental benefits. Bilingual individuals are often smarter, better listeners and in later life may see a delay in…
Social studies textbooks have been under increasing scrutiny this year, as the successor to the science textbook controversy last year. For the first time in 12 years, the State Board of Education will review social studies textbooks, this time under social studies standards put in place in 2010. This time,…
Congrats to the concerned parents of Lakewood Elementary. Seriously. You guys piled into a public meeting and shot down a Dallas ISD proposal to stick a Verizon cell tower on the school’s roof. That’s how democracy’s supposed to work. Good on DISD, too, which has the bureaucratic heft to plow…
