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TEA to DISD: You Have Flexibility In Funding Magnet Schools

Reporting from the Pappadeaux happy hour, cuz that’s how I roll:

DISD was informed today by email that they do not have to adhere to the funding parameters discussed in our previous blog posts and on Unfair Park. That means the board is not bound to cut the 13 Booker T. teachers I’ve been yelling about. Unsure yet what they WILL do, but, to quote district spokesman Jon Dahlander, “If I were a Booker T. parent, I would read this as good news.” Check out the board meeting this week for further developments.

Eric Nadel Talks Baseball With D Staff

From the rockin InsideCorner happy hour at Pappadeaux. The Rangers broadcaster gets some tips from our Web team. Man, I wish we had comments.

If You Go to Scarborough Fair …

Yes, I took my mom to Scarborough Fair for Mother’s Day. What can I say? It was her suggestion. And the place has a soft spot in my heart. I played a lot of Dungeons & Dragons when I was a kid.

Here’s what I recommend if you go: don’t miss the game where you throw tomatoes at a the guy who insults you while you throw tomatoes at him. It’s astounding how aggressively that guy crosses the line. He actually mocked my 3-year-old for cradling her stuffed bunny. Other examples:

– To a circa 12-year-old wearing a Boy Scout uniform: “Hey, kid, you want me to tell your dad why you’ve been spending more time in the shower?”

– To that kid’s dad, who had slightly buck teeth: “How do you like being able to brush you teeth while holding them in your hand?” And: “You need to aim higher! Get it up! Do we need to put some blue pills in those tomatoes for you?”

– To an 8-year-old boy: “Aim higher! Like your mother is right now!”

There are benches at this game. Sit in the shade. Watch awhile. The insults are very uncomfortable. And very funny.

Zac and I Go the Mavs Game, Ctd.

Zac points out that, in terms of action movies, it will probably look more like this.

Trinity River Gets a Multimedia Series On KERA

KERA is presenting Living with the Trinity, a radio show paired with an interactive website that explores the geography, ecology, and cultural history of the Trinity River. The reports will air on 90.1 beginning tomorrow on Morning Edition (5:00 a.m. to 9:00 a.m.), All Things Considered (4:00 p.m. to 6:30 p.m.), and online.

Where is my soap box? Oh, here it is:  I love the Trinity River. Last week I attended a lecture by Charles Allen, a Dallas naturalist who has canoed the river for almost 30 years. His enthusiasm about the river is infectious. Too many of us take the river for granted—the banks are filled with historic relics, fabulous birds, big old alligators, and ancient burial sites. You should see Dallas from a canoe on the Trinity. Or from the lounge at Five-Sixty in the Reunion Tower high above the river. Either way, I guarantee you will feel different about this city.

Pay attention to Living with the Trinity. Extra credit for anyone who hikes the Buckeye Trail.

Zac And I Will Be In Section 319 Tonight

And not to say that we’re looking for a fight, but here’s a preview of what our section will look like if things go the way things went in Game 3.

More Kind Words for Willard Spiegelman’s Book

D Magazine contributor and bow tie aficionado Willard Spiegelman continues to draw praise for his new book, Seven Pleasures: Essays on Ordinary Happiness, this time from Matthew Gurewitsch, who says:

For Willard, the essence of reading — as of his other six subjects — is pleasure. Wordsworth, one of Willard’s muses, has it that “we murder to dissect.” Williard dissects very capably, yet murders nothing. His capacity for enjoyment is off the charts, and his pleasure is contagious. He is a born teacher by example.

Jim Schutze Makes Me Want to Run For School Board

I’m a bit concerned an important Jim Schutze post over at Unfair Park won’t get the attention it deserves, because it was posted at near 6 p.m. on Friday. (Memo to Big Bob and gang: traffic goes way down after 5 on Friday. Please adjust accordingly.) It’s important because it discusses the ongoing threat to pare teachers from DISD learning centers and magnet schools. This is important to me because my daughter attends Booker T. Just so we’re clear.

Now, what Jim has found shows that the DISD board is either lying or misinformed (take your pick) about its need to, for example, get rid of 13 teachers at the arts magnet. Why? Because the argument has always been made that these schools don’t apply to the federal rules governing this money (the money the district says it will lose if it doesn’t bring the school’s budgets more in line with other schools’ numbers). And the district has always won that argument. Here is Jim’s point in a nutshell:

So there you have it — all the pieces right in a row. Federal law says you don’t have to cut special schools to a flat level with other schools if those special schools grew out of a deseg case and represent an ongoing effort to achieve diversity. That’s exactly the case of the Dallas magnet schools and learning centers.

Read the post for details. And know that if this is true — and Jim’s reporting seems pretty air-tight here — it is an inexcusable oversight by a man I respect, the DISD board president (and my representative) Jack Lowe. The board must do the right thing and protect its crown jewels if it wants to keep good students from fleeing for suburbs or private schools (and I’m talking of all races, not just we palefaces), and therefore maintaining excellence at schools like Townview, Booker T., and others is a priority.

Don’t Shed a Tear For The Tipp

My take on why The Tipperary Inn closed. Hint: It wasn’t because of the economy. 

(Alternate headline: Junk-Kicks I’ve Delivered.)

Zac Crain’s Side Job: Dance Instructor?

Zac, I didn’t know you were a dance teacher who loves hip-hop. Does Wick know you’re doing this?

If CBS Fires David Feherty, I’m Boycotting Two and a Half Men

As Glenn noted over the weekend, we are indeed receiving a bit of attention for something David Feherty wrote in the “print product.” Michael Hiestand has suggested in USA Today that David might lose his job over this thing. To recap, David contributed an essay to our April cover story about George W. Bush moving back to Dallas. In it, he wrote:

From my own experience visiting the troops in the Middle East, I can tell you this, though: despite how the conflict has been portrayed by our glorious media, if you gave any U.S. soldier a gun with two bullets in it, and he found himself in an elevator with Nancy Pelosi, Harry Reid, and Osama bin Laden, there’s a good chance that Nancy Pelosi would get shot twice, and Harry Reid and bin Laden would be strangled to death.

Yesterday David apologized for the remark, which I understand. I’m sure his CBS bosses told him that if he wanted to keep his job, he needed to say he was sorry. And no joke — no matter how funny — is worth losing a job over. But I’d bet that David is most definitely NOT sorry.

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Leading Off (5/11/09)

I’ve tried to come up with a proper Leading Off this morning. But all I can think about is the below video clip — probably because I have tickets to tonight’s game, which now is essentially meaningless. I’ll try again after I watch this another 100 times.