This is what a newspaper editorial ought to do, instead of the mush we usually get. Bravo to Rod Dreher for laying out the uncomfortable facts about Woodrow Wilson High School and our dismal failure to educate minority students.
Update: And not everybody over at the News is happy about it. The sort of reasoning on display in Michael Landauer’s response is useful only for those who want to cover up or ignore our failure. Instead of lauding “noble efforts,” which is all the News editorials usually do, what’s wrong with asking why they are needed? To say that even suburban schools have problems with educating minorities is an excuse, not a reply. The plain fact is, we are failing yet another generation of non-white children, as the facts cited by Rod clearly show.
46 comments
The BackTalk Lakewood blog has you might imagine an opposite view about RodD’s piece
http://tinyurl.com/5yqtmd
Wick, When you say “our dismal failure to educate minority students,” are you including “your” Highland Park ISD?
I prefer to embrace the opinion of my fellow Dallas ISD parent Rick Wamre at Advocate Publishing and completely ditto his last paragraph where he said, “Dallas has no shortage of well-meaning academics, politicians and writers who from afar seem able to divine what’s wrong with DISD and seem more than happy to mail in the answers to all of the district’s problems. Hey, these problems aren’t going away anytime soon — why don’t you guys actually get your hands dirty at a DISD school for a few months, and then let’s see what you have to say.” http://backtalkeastdallas.typepad.com/back_talk/2008/04/the-dmns-rod-dr.html
Wick,
This may cause you to re-think your position, but I’m with you.
I tutored my neighbor’s son the summer after he failed the 8th grade in a DISD school. The kid couldn’t read, and no teacher had noticed. In 3 months, I taught him to read for content vs. the phonetics junk he got at school. He passed the next year, and will graduate from high school this year.
So, my graduation rate’s a heck better than DISD’s. My neighbor is Hispanic. The mother doesn’t speak English. These kids can be taught, but not by Hinojosa’s system.
DISD is so bad we had to give 11 administrators w/6-figure salaries waivers to live outside the district so their kids won’t have to attend DISD schools.
HPISD is responsible for educating the kids who live inside its district. Last I heard, there is no dropout problem, no gang problem, etc. in HPISD.
Ms. Meyer may be satisfied with DISD’s failures. This DISD taxpayer is not, and I’m voting NO in May.
My neighborhood school has almost 2 dozen portables. There’s nothing in this bond election for our school. The DISD is so screwed up kids who live in my neighborhood must cross Walnut Hill to attend another elementary, rather than our closest school, which is full of apartment kids.
Show me the audit, Dr. H. Repeal those residency waivers, Trustees. Then, I will consider voting for another bond package.
Hear, hear Sharon.
DISD is sunk from its fundamentally flawed educational philosophies to its beurocratic mismanagement of funds. That’s a situation that screws over those students who have no education support (or awareness) at home and provides some [promotable] opportunities for kids who do. Unfortunately, Rod is right in pointing out that in general those who have support at home are well-off white kids, and those who don’t are not-so-well-off poor kids, mostly hispanic and blacks. That this is a race issue follows from the fact that poverty is still largely a race issue.
Writers vilify the job Dr. Hinojosa is doing, but fail to point out any replacement who would be better. They scream about Board Trustees, but how many incumbents recently ran unopposed? They use “we” and “our” to imply they are invested in these kids lives, yet fail to help find real solutions to the district’s problems.
Parts of Mr. Dreher’s column walked a fine line between insinuation and accusation of racism in treatment of Woodrow students. NO ONE, not one parent from within Woodrow has said this, only an outsider with a bunch of miscellaneous, one-liner quotes that fit conveniently into his position.
I’m not a Woodrow mom, but participate every year with a yard sign proclaiming our kid’s school round up. I would love for more than the 4 families (out of over 100)in my 1 mile square neighborhood with school-aged children to consider DISD as an option. My neighbors (including a Dallas Maverick) are a mix of racial and ethnic backgrounds, and hopefully would find the experience of DISD as enriching as our family has.
If it is any consolation, there are problems out in the suburbs, too. A good friend of ours is a math teacher for a suburban high school, and his advice to me was to get my daughter into the AP track, because that was the only way to assure that she was prepared for college. There are too many parents here who send their kids to school because need a babysitter while they both work two jobs to afford the McMansion, the matching BMWs, and the lifestyle they think they “need”. Due to the pursuit of the almighty dollar, they don’t make time to participate in the educational process – sound familiar? Without the support (and sometimes forcefulness) of the parents, the kids aren’t going to realize the importance of getting a good education, until it’s too late and they are either flipping burgers, or getting rejection letters from colleges.
Of course, like Sharon suggested, there is also more than one way for a child to learn, and our current system is too wrapped up in TAKS testing to understand that concept. The “one size fits all” approach is a failure for a lot of kids. As a multimedia developer, I know that some people respond better to graphics and video, some learn by hearing the concepts, and some just need to read it on paper, in order to grasp a concept. Our children are the same way, and respond better to different methods (phonics vs. contextual, as a good example), so why can’t we have teachers who teach the same concepts, but in different ways?
It is wrong to criticize parents for trying to improve their neighborhood schools. Rod and Wick present no solutions to improve DISD, they just criticize people who are trying to do at least something.
So what do the critics want the white and affluent parents to do? Abandon the school as was Sunset, Forest/Madison, North Dallas, Kimball, Adamson (I could go on)?
This post is realy rich coming from a magazine which totally ignores DISD except to criticize it — easy to do when HP judge (William Taylor) made sure it would be extremely difficult for any numbers of minority children to ever attend HPISD.
Perhaps you haven’t heard how obnoxiously HP grads use the N word and other offensive epithets on DISD grads in college.
I applaud these parents and ignore critics who haven’t crossed the threshold of our beloved Woodrow.
I agree, Duffy. My intent is not to criticize the parents; what they do is good and, as Michael L. said, even noble. The question before us, however, as a community and as a nation is how to educate minority children. The DISD wasted 30 years embroiled in racial and patronage politics. I agree with Amy S. that Hinosa and a majority of trustees are trying to put that behind us. But the big challenge is what to put before us. That is a question that D Magazine will address in special edition this fall.
Wick, d’you think you could get some of that “Mad for Plaid” money diverted over to help some of “our” minority kids who aren’t doing so well. For what it costs to carpet a baseball outfield, “we” could help alot of kids do better.
Hinojosa
Thank you Wick, you are stepping up to the plate, you only have to hit a single to help the team.
My kids schools (elementary and middle) were involved in a Competitive Math program (Long and Marsh Middle schools also offer), which was after school in 5th/6th, but offered as an elective class in 7th/8th grades. While it is not for every kid, it helped many kids who were mathmatically talented, but had very low math support at home. Our math coach reminded us all the time that these kids are the real success of the program.
Another Woodrow parent (head of SBDM) refutes Rod and Wick:
http://backtalkeastdallas.typepad.com/back_talk/2008/04/my-problems-wit.html?cid=110612200#comment-110612200
It takes a little investigation to explain an enigma such as Woodrow. Most journalists have neither the energy nor the insight.
I would direct you to Texas Monthly’s story of many years ago “This is Woodrow Wilson: a School that Works” by the great Gene Lyons. Mr. Lyons spent several weeks at the school meeting with teachers, principal, parents, students, alumni and community leaders. And really, the school has not changed much since the story was written.
Another Woodrow parent’s perspective:
“Have we really stooped to criticizing a school for identifying and recruiting good students?…”
http://backtalkeastdallas.typepad.com/back_talk/2008/04/my-problems-wit.html
Wick, I think DISD has been given enough time and money. DISD is a failure that needs to broken up. No one will ever fix the culture of failure at DISD.
All of the talk about HPISD being successful because it’s all rich white kids is simply untrue. Start with breaking up DISD along the HPISD model–four elementary schools feeding one middle school and high school. That would be 15 or 20 independent districts with their own school boards and budgets. This will get parents involved because they know they won’t be dealing with some huge horrid bureaucracy.
Raise and spend the bond money needed to have facilities of similar quality to HPISD. Give the principals the power to teach to the students they have and not to the ones they wish they had.
HPISD is successful because of good teachers, nice facilities, strong administration, and outstanding parental support and involvement. Having money is as factor, but just one of many.
There are successful minority and/or poor school districts. Maybe not a lot, but it can be done. Junk DISD. Go small and local with a very flat organizational structure. Parents will respond. Students will respond. DISD is failing the overwhelming majority of students who happen to be minorities. Minority students in DISD are just as smart as the HPISD students. We ‘re just choosing to let them fail because we lack the courage to remove the primary obstacle to their success: DISD.
Sharon Boyd -how many poor and/or minority students attend HPISD? a handful of minorities and NO poor students from what I can find.
DISD is too large and has lots of problems, but by State law it is unlikely it can be broken up. SO let’s deal with what we have & look for helpful suggestions.
Although suburban schools have many issues too, as a general rule more affluent (even just middle class) families in a school mean more involved parents. EVERY child in a school benefits from having more parent volunteers, not just the children of those parents. It is easier for parents with only one job and who live near a school to volunteer. In last bond package, DISD tried to simplify the feeder pattern & move kids into “neighborhood schools” but unfortunately, it wasn’t always possible because the schools aren’t where the population base is, in part due to neighborhood kids choosing private schools. I applaud Woodrow’s efforts to get neighbors more involved in the school. When Nathan Adams wanted to put in soccer fields, neighbors had money to hire lawyers to oppose but not one would give a couple of hours a month to help the kids. DISD’s students are our future – we need everyone involved in helping improve the system but also doing hands-on work in the schools.
Stop whining and start HELPING!!!
The opportunities are there for minority students at Woodrow and other DISD schools – some of us have been encouraging them for the 40 years since desegregation. Rod Dreher doesn’t mention the efforts of teachers, parents, alumni and community leaders. There is a whole ESL scholarship program named after late Woodrow student Gustavo Ipina for example: http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/news/localnews/stories/DN-elfocus_12met.ART.Central.Edition1.42dcd06.html
There need to be more minority students in AP classes, but I have been there both as a student and a volunteer for decades and I have never seen anyone held back. If anything, the academically gifted minority students are practically adopted and given all sorts of help (if needed). I know I am grateful to see them. Anyone who can do the work will be richly rewarded. Unfortunately minority students for whatever reason mostly don’t take advantage of what is offered. Gustavo Ipina was one with dreams and we won’t let them die.
I predict that as Rod Dreher learns more about Woodrow, he will one day be a Wildcat parent.
Reading all this and the DMViews Landauer thread posts that spawned it, I understand two things: 1) Why Rod wrote his piece, warts and all. 2) Why Rod would have been better advised to avoid the bomb blast by writing about spring bunnies frolicking in flowery vistas.
None of this is easy to sort through or digest, let alone ‘correct’. But I do know that I got a fine education in DISD, so what happened? I also know some fine people doing as close as I see anyone doing ‘God’s work’ teaching the young minorities well. I also believe Hinojosa is the best Super in memory (and there have been many a string of pricy horrors) and deserves to be heard and supported by those with open minds, hearts and checkbooks willing to see the big and complex picture(s).
seems like Rod will be happy either if everyone at Woodrow is achieving at the same high standard; failing that, a uniform low standard will suffice.
He seems to live in a binary world of right vs. left, rich vs. poor, Christian vs. other, white vs. black, etc., although he does like his organic meats.
Billy, c’mon
“We ‘re just choosing to let them fail because we lack the courage to remove the primary obstacle to their success: DISD.”
How out of touch are you with the problem? You make it sound as if getting rid of the district will solve low academic performance. These kids have so much more impacting their lives than school. Poverty, parenthood, crime, unstable home lives, parents working two jobs, neglect. Take a frigging look the next time you’re driving through town and see the large pockets of poverty that we in Dallas DO HAVE TO DEAL WITH, unlike HP. I don’t want to knock HP, but your suggestion sounds a little condescending and stupid.
Split the district up? LOL, won’t the editorials have lots to write about then; between the fights on how to split them up, to asset allocations, to court oversight again.
Most Journalists have neither the energy nor the insight to investigate the enigma that is Woodrow.
One did many years ago at D’s rival Texas Monthly – “Woodrow Wilson: A School That Works” was the culmination of weeks of actual campus visits, talks with parents, students, the principal, alumni and community leaders by the famed Gene Lyons.
When I say campus visits I mean he was there every day for 8-10 hours for a couple of weeks, at least. I doubt Wick or Rod has spent two hours doing such.
Amy S., let me just comment about your remark to Wick about spending “Mad for Plaid” dollars…
I lived in Lakewood for 4 years and moved to Park Cities when my son was 4 so he could go through the HPISD system. Our children would have eventually ended up at Woodrow Wilson. We had a lot of concerns about DISD and a good friend with older children told us “Lakewood Elementary is great, it’s middle school you have to worry about. By the time they reach high school, the riff-raff has either been expelled or dropped out and you’ll be fine in high school.” My reaction? My house went on the market and we got the heck out of dodge and into Park Cities.
Currently .73 cents of every Park Cities dollar leaves the district. The State of Texas is getting plenty from Park Cities. The reason HPISD is still so strong is because the parents get in there and BUST their behinds to raise private funds to keep money in the district so our quality of education remains strong. The cafeterias, libraries and more are all operated by parent volunteers out of necessity.
I have friends who teach in DISD who can’t even get the parents to help with homework because “they have a full-time job and it’s not to do the teacher’s work”. It’s time for a change of attitude if DISD parents want to see improvement. I know there are great parents out there trying to make it happen. But it’s gonna take a lot more than a handful of people to get DISD back to where it needs to be before I would ever consider putting my child in that system. Hollering about the successes of HPISD isn’t going to bring any benefit to DISD.
Bless you to those who continue to work towards that effort! And bless Rod Dreher!
You’re right, Cynthia. It’s our attitude. If only we had more hard workers like you. So sorry you left the hood. Sounds like you’re a deep thinker.
Cynthia, not knocking HP, I do know that you work hard, have been on the fundraising circuit for years myself. Given that our schools largest fundraiser netted $77,000 one year, excuse me for being a little envious of your carpeted baseball field.
I hear they’re going to carpet the soccer fields next.
Lot’s of talk about “we’ve” failed, etc. Sorry, but I think it’s really the kids that have failed. I have two children in DISD high schools. They’ve always been in public schools and we’ve been involved parents. There are great programs and teachers in DISD, but some not so great. Overwhelmingly it is the KIDS responsibility to learn and the PARENTS responsibility to emphasis education and make sure the kids are studying, e.g. provide supervision. That doesn’t happen in far too many cases, especially for blacks and hispanics. that isn’t the fault of the schools, teachers, or district–it’s the fault of the individuals.
There are plenty of black, hispanic, and other minority kids that get this; they want to learn and are doing well/outstanding at school. Just look at the Magnet programs–lots of black and hispanic kids. The overall results at DISD are bad because the culture doesn’t emphasis education. It’s a failure of parenting, and a result of a deterioration of civility.
That’s not to let DISD off the hook–some of the things mentioned such as the bad bookkeeping are why I, too, will vote against the upcoming bond package. And Hinojosa wants to ‘fix’ the problem by lowering standards and moving toward a spanish speaking district, instead of insisting that everyone learn and be proficient in English.
I am in no means trying to knock the accomplishments of HPISD or any school district for that matter, but I do have one issue. Before someone tries to compare how well their (HP) district is doing in educating their students, let’s actually compare equal schools. If I’m not mistaken HP is between 98-99% caucasian, 0-1% low socioeconomic status, upper class school district that has parents who can easily afford to shell out hundreds of dollars a month to get extra help if their child is having issues. My school, not too far down the street is about 12% caucasian, 69-75% of the kids are low SES, and have parents who often times can barely afford nutritious food for their family. How can you even compare us or expect us to follow a HP model of schools when we have a totally different atmosphere.
I wonder what would happen if Dallas decided in it’s infinite wisdom to place a gigantic government-subsidized housing complex right in the middle of HPISD and only non-English speaking students from parents living on welfare could live there. How would these kids do in HPISD?
It’s a pretty nice place to be in when you’re a school district that doesn’t have to worry about these types of issues and it’s a given that your kids will always be recognized or above on the TAKS test. Come play in our sandbox and see how the world really is.
Ray, history tells us that it would result in 2-3 new private schools.
“the phonetics junk he got at school. ”
If the child had truly been taught reading via the PHONICS method he would have been reading. I suspect that he was taught using a method that was supposedly based upon phonics.
“My neighbor is Hispanic. The mother doesn’t speak English. These kids can be taught…”
I highly suspect that the child was also being taught using bilingual methodology. Wonder who much Spanish language radio and TV the child was listening to?
Phonics and drills works. It did for me over 40 years ago
I am glad Cynthia left ‘the riff-raff’ in East Dallas and moved to HP. I grew up in East Dallas and I’m sure she wouldn’t approve of several of my friends from Woodrow – whom I also regard as human beings.
She also complains about having to send .73 of each tax dollar to places she would never put her kids – the tariff for being a media sacred cow where the fact that everyone is white and wealthy and really not concerned about anyone else is not criticized.
Since she left before her child entered Lakewood Elementary I don’t know how she is such an expert on the parental voluteer rate here..she doesn’t seem to know 350 parents from Lakewood, Long and Woodrow helped on the home tour alone for example.
I think she’s better off serving white bread in the HP cafeteria.
Billy hit the nail on the head from my perspective. I have had children in RISD and HPISD and would never leave HPISD despite the cost of being there. RISD should be split up as well.
I may be wrong but I think that DISD spends more per year per student than HPISD. If not, it is close.
You may get over your facility envy by attending sporting events at the suburban high schools that HP students compete against. HP is old and there is no where to build a new school. The students show respect for and the district does maintain the properties.
My children have benefited from the method that HPISD uses to teach reading. One of my children was in RISD and private school until 3rd grade and never learned to read. After 2 months in the “Jump Start” program in elementary school in HPISD she learned to read and it remains her strength academically.
Instead of Wick and Rod spending time at DISD studying failure, I believe that DISD should send decision makers to spend time in HPISD schools to study success.
Teaching reading using the Slingerland method would go a long ways toward helping DISD children get an education. Without the ability to read, the rest is moot.
Since the DISD superintendent’s wife teaches English at HP High, I’m certain he’s familiar with successful reading programs.
How does this Slingerland method work with kids who don’t read or speak English at all or very well? Perhaps not as effectively as in your situation.
wow, my wife’s 6 mos. pregnant and we plan to stay in Dallas for the foreseeable future and at least try DISD before resorting to pvt. school, which thank God is an option to us due to our financial situation, which is working class, as in we’ve both worked our asses off for the last 10 years to save as much money as possibel so we can spend it however we see fit
but none of you people have convinced me one way or the other about where to educate my soon-to-be born son
i do know that he’ll be able to read before he ever steps foot in a schoolhouse because i’ll teach him to do it
ain’t that what’s supposed to happen: the learning starts at home from birth. stop watching American Idle and read a newspaper to your kid or even D magazine for chrissakes. teach your child how to read.
hate to sound all George Bush the 1st on yous and all, but it all starts with the family values. period.
This is a complicated subject – to which people want to ascribe simple answers. Those who have been dealing with this for 20-30-40 years might just know something about it – too bad Rod and Wick aren’t asking them.
Amy S –
The HS English teacher will see the results of the teaching method used in the elementary schools but may not be familiar with the method itself. Whatever DISD is using now is not working and the one that HPISD uses does work.
I am familiar with only one foreign student who only spoke French when they showed up – within one year they were reading and speaking English. The teacher and I talked about it and she said specifically that non-English speaking was not a problem. It is worth a look and does not cost any more than the other systems that are being used.
Dubious Brother,
I’m rather dubious of your statement “Whatever DISD is using now is not working.” I went to DISD and read just fine, thank you.
Wow! This place is a regular think-tank. All the answers for all the problems. I had all the answers too, then I started teaching at the age of 30. It has been my observation that for a child with a stable set of well educated, dedicated parents, the question of which “reading program” to implement is of minor importance. Those kids will learn, will succeed, and will rise to the top regardless. Their parents make sure of it.
No amount of bond money, “superior” pedagogy, or before and after school programs is going to ever replace a solid home life with involved parents.
As a DISD teacher, I pray for the suburban districts that will soon begin to see the demographic challenges we face on a daily basis. I was once at a school where half of the students were recent arrivals from a handful of villages located in the state with lowest literacy rate in Mexico. I worked harder, smarter, and more inspired than I ever have in my life that year. There were small victories, tremendous disappointments, and no made-for-TV miracles. It was a humbling experience.
1. Why can’t the DISD be split up. It can be split into numerous districts at least by trustee district if not more. Why can’t Woodrow and it feeders be one district. Those residents can control their destiney. Hilcrest and its feeders another one, etc…
2. VOTE NO – Until the DISD releases its audit and put forth a bond program to benefit all parts of the district and get rid of all portables VOTE NO!
3.Amy S. If you want carpets on your kids sports fields – then go out and raise the money from corporations or other individuals the same way HP does.
4. Amy S. As for the Maverick that lives in your neighborhood – if it is who I think it is, he has since moved to another neighborhood and will not send his kids to the DISD as he homes schools them.
5. I don’t care what anyone says, go tour the private schools and see what they have to offer compared to the public schools such as technology, facilities, etc…
6. The principal of Woodrow does not send her daughter to the DISD, and instead uses private school. That basically says it all for me.
Just Me -
I’m glad that you can read just fine.
The percentage of children currently and formerly in DISD that cannot read is way too high. Whatever that number is needs to be compared to HPISD’s number which is ZERO.
We are not talking about DISD children from homes with well educated and involved parents. The school is these childrens only shot evidently and all that I am saying is that there is a system that seems to work regardless of the childs circumstance.
Something tells me that if they tried to take that system out of HPISD and replace it with one that has a 50% failure rate, the concerned parents would have something to say about it. The DISD parents deserve the same opportunity. They would have it with smaller districts.
ACP -
1. Sure it doesn’t matter how many Lynacre campuses this creates, as long as it is in someone else’s district. Why don’t we take it one step farther and seperate the tax payments made by people in each mini-district? If someone is paying big bucks on their million dollar home, why should it go to some school down in South Dallas (note tongue in cheek).
2. DISD is not holding the audit back, the auditors are. How can DISD release something that they have not been given. Do you want it fast or do you want it right?
3. When Wick refers to “we” and “our” kids that are failing (note beginning of blog above), some of us see him as an outsider to Dallas schools considering he lives in HP. So in what reference is he referring to these kids? Our solutions are not going to come from an HP model of success. Not to mention that if we did raise the money to carpet our sports fields, the amount of shi* we would take for diverting those funds from educational purposes would be longer than this current blog.
4. Nope, not that Maverick, different one (which is why I didn’t say we have two Mavericks in our neighborhood), don’t know if he has kids but would welcome him into our schools.
5. Low blow, bad form, she’s entitled to her choices.
Change 5 to 6 above.
5. Perhaps the private schools have these above average faciliites due to their enormous fundraisers they hold every year. I was at a private school auction where a puppy sold for $27,000 and they raised over $1 million. As an active fundraiser I applaud them, it’s hard work I know. However we don’t have pockets like that, nor do we have the corporate support on a local school level. Many corporations do support our district on a district-wide level, for scholarship help, work study, tutoring help, etc. (Thank you, thank you, thank you).
The district has already been subdivided: http://www.dallasisd.org/schools/
Major reforms, in all areas, are underway: http://www.dallasisd.org/about/dallasachieves/
Advance Placement programs are successful and open to all students: http://www.apstrategies.org/ip/apresults/APS%202006.pdf
Graduates are doing well in college admissions: http://www.wtwhitehs.org/matriculation0208.pdf
Dallas ISD is the city’s largest employer, serves more than 150,000 students at 227 campuses. Singlet stories dispensed by Brett Shipp, Rod Dreher or even Sharon Boyd may feed your biases but don’t fairly reflect the entire system.
Ms. Meyer:
With DISD holding 7th place in the national dropout rate (and we aren’t the 7th largest city), your DISD defense seems a bit shallow. Obviously, being the largest employer does not translate to the best education provider.
Of the 150,000 kids you cite, only a small percentage will graduate from high school. For that matter, many will not be reading by the 8th grade.
The district doesn’t need to be subdivided. It needs to be dismantled. Large districts = more bureaucrats.
DISD is the only local operation that makes the City of Dallas look efficient.
At a Townhall meeting last night, Dr. Flores, Adam Medrano & Jerome Garza did a sales job on about 30 residents. Dr. Flores touted the scholarships some graduates are getting and the success of the magnet schools.
A lady in the room, said “That’s great, but you need to come back to our real world where kids aren’t graduating from high school.” Dr. Flores responded to stop worrying about high school graduation and focus on college acceptance. You know, set your standards higher – pull everybody up.
Just a bunch of baloney, and no one in the room bought it.
Dubious Brother -
HPISD has 0 (zero) students who are economically disadvantaged. 0.8% of its students are Limited English Proficient.
83.9% of DISD students are economically disadvantaged and 31.2% are LEP.
I would say that these statistics have more to do with students’ reading abilities than whatever teaching methods are being used by each district.
Sharon, My affection for the district and strong desire for it to improve is based on going deep into the system as a parent, a school volunteer, and by serving on Dallas Achieves and other committees. The list is long on what needs to be improved including the graduation rate you mentioned. At the top of my list is to recruit more parents to embrace their neighborhood schools and expand community involvement on every campus as well as within the bureaucracy.
I will also continue to rebut ’shallow’ suggestions that our hometown schools are not worth the trouble and should simply be dismantled.
Cynthia:
You said parents in HP “get out there and bust their buns….” Gee, that is what we do at Woodrow, yet somehow we get kicked in the teeth for it, again and again and again. Boy, its rich that you bless nimRod for his article. I don’t think you get it.