Comments on: Big Business Takes Over DISD!! Arrggh!

By: Robert Guest

Robert Guest — Thu, 09 Oct 2008 01:24:27 +0000

Incompetence, corruption, fraud are tragically commonplace but not unexpected. Anyone who studies socialized institutions or bureaucratic behavior knows these are byproducts of a government monopoly.

The only hope for DISD is competition- school choice, tax credits, vouchers. You can’t just bring in business leaders to a Soviet style education bureaucracy and think things will change. The system is the problem.

Simple solution- give parents a tax credit for private school tuition. Let parents choose which public school they want and let public schools compete for students.

DISD as an institution is not worth saving. Instead, the students who need to be saved, from DISD.

By: John

John — Tue, 07 Oct 2008 22:10:29 +0000

This whole “CEOs to the Rescue” is bogus. CEOs lead companies. If you want budgets fixed you go to seasoned accountants and analysts who can put all the pieces together. This is a fulltime job over months not something you do parttime.

Kitchen Cabinet?!?! Excuse me, accountability: none. Authority: none. Transparency: none. These guys are in it to keep the bond money gravy train on track. Mayor Leppert is in the construction business: what’s good for the bond, is good for his industry.

Everytime I hear kitchen cabinet it makes me think of the bug and rat poison I keep in the kitchen cabinet under the sink.

If you want to get Dallas Business behind axing Hinojosa, the best way is to hold the bond money hostage.
That’s all these guys understand. Then Hiney will really choke on his sandwich.
Besides why are we getting C-level executives? We should be getting A-level!!!! :>

By: Disney

Disney — Tue, 07 Oct 2008 21:56:06 +0000

I agree– CAN’T BELIEVE I’M SAYING THIS– with Sharon Boyd. What’s the point in building schools when we don’t have the money to hire people to work in them? When we’re (at least) $84M in the hole now and laying off people?

I smell somebody making the case for another DISD property tax rate increase. And it stinks.

On another note: I don’t care who is holding up the bond sale or why. The bottom line is the longer it takes them to sell the bonds, the longer it takes them to incur more debt to build more (empty) schools for more non-English speaking children, and the longer it takes them to raise my taxes and waste my money on low-performing schools and kids. Sorry about the runon sentence.

By: tobie

tobie — Tue, 07 Oct 2008 20:41:18 +0000

@DKC…I stand corrected

By: mike

mike — Tue, 07 Oct 2008 20:11:03 +0000

If they want to fix something they don’t need C-level employees. They need the bald fat guys who work for C-level employees.

signed;
bald fat guy

By: jrp

jrp — Tue, 07 Oct 2008 19:13:57 +0000

well, i understand Texas school finance, don’t have an MBA (yet), but still it ain’t that hard

think they’ll hire a blowhard Eagles Phan?

By: Give me a Break

Give me a Break — Tue, 07 Oct 2008 18:41:14 +0000

Hello. This kitchen cabinet is made up of the Dallas Achieves Commission that’s largely responsible for getting Michael to spend more money than he has had in the first place.

This “business rolling up their sleeves” bit is the biggest joke yet and it’s a shame people are buying it.

DISD needs someone who understands TEXAS SCHOOL FINANCE. Until then, this is only going to get worse or stay the same.

Dallas, you’re being duped. This announcement is nothing but a publicity stunt. Oh, and why wasn’t there a Hispanic in the first four announced? Is anybody thinking here?

By: Davie Dave

Davie Dave — Tue, 07 Oct 2008 17:23:28 +0000

Oh I know this one. It’s 7. Right?

By: Lynn

Lynn — Tue, 07 Oct 2008 17:19:23 +0000

Same old, same old. Business people have examined the DISD finances before and found….that business people have no understanding of the state school finance program and school finances in particular.

In fact, the folks who have screwed up the finances this time are the “business” people that the current Superintendent brought in to run the biz side of DISD.

By: Bethany

Bethany — Tue, 07 Oct 2008 17:15:16 +0000

Daniel: I asked that question of then-Arkansas Gov. Bill Clinton once, when I was at a high school press association convention (yes, I was in high school, no, he didn’t try anything. He did however, steal my cheesecake.)

His response was that he didn’t know for certain, but he would guess it was that way because athletics budgets are usually much larger, and have several sports to oversee and budget for. Therefore, it could be that former coaches are seen as being more ready to handle the demands of a larger budget, having “practiced” before.

I didn’t say it was a GOOD answer – but that was his theory, anyway.