I listened to Hinojosa yesterday in an interview on KERA. In response to the query regarding the continual fraud in DISD, he responded that he had talked to other CEOs, and that they also had this problem (totally pathetic response).

I have two issues with this response. Hinojosa is a school superintendent and a public servant, not a CEO. The title of CEO is granted in the PRIVATE sector where goods and services are sold by choice. The consumers of those goods and services CHOOSE to pay either for the goods and services or for the stock if the company is public. Consumers also have the choice to vote with their pocketbooks in response to shoddy goods and services, and the market can respond in kind in terms of stock prices.

All of us pay property taxes either in the rent we pay to owners or for our own homes and businesses. We have no CHOICE in paying those taxes. That tax money is sent on to DISD regardless of shoddy academic performance or whether employees spend part of their day embezzling it. We cannot take our property taxes back in response to continual graft in DISD, nor can we decide we will no longer pay school taxes when the public's monies are stolen once DISD receives them.

This response that other CEOs have the same problem is doing nothing to satisfy the fact that many of the employees who took their DISD credit cards to Walmart and bought untraceable gift cards with the public's money will be right back in their same positions this fall. Some of these same folks have been in trouble over the same issues before, i.e., they used public funds outside district guidelines.

Superintendent Hinojosa may aggrandize himself with a CEO title, but the fact is he has allowed grand theft of public monies to go mostly unchallenged. The board members in DISD are giving the public the impression that this is acceptable since no other action has occurred. Hinojosa and the board need to understand this latest fiasco is beyond the pale, and the public is not going to forget it because of the grand delusions of the superintendent. And by the way, in the private sector when this kind of financial fraud occurs, the CEO is usually shown the door.

[Ed Note: While I appreciate some of the sentiments, we're playing semantics with a title. I agree that the accountability isn't there--and when they roll out their plans to hit the voters up with a bond referendum, several people are going to push the "unaccountability" issue including me.]

Well, the business sector usually REWARDS CEO's with huge monies, since the boards are stacked with cronies. Rarely do CEO's get fired and leave with NOTHING.

Hold the DISD accountable, but also make sure that when you do, ask yourself: Did I help the schools myself? Did I volunteer in any way?

If you say no, then wonder how teachers manage to get anything done when they have little public help. Pay increases only go so far. Testing is out of whack.

In fact, last year, Hinojosa swore to the DISD staff that "the TAKS test will not drive this train." NO, the darn Road to Broad will. And what is based on? TAKS scores.

Ask any DISD teacher what they heard for two days this week and three days of staff development this summer: TAKS TAKS TAKS.

When Contreras came to Robert T. Hill, many students and parents felt that the school declined.

She seemed not to care about the teachers or the students.

Rex Cole, the former principal, was a great asset to Hill.

Too bad he retired.

Dr. Hinojosa should do his best to hire back Rex Cole and all other retirees to the DISD.

[Ed Note: I will never forget the statement she made to the Hexter Elementary PTA--saying she couldn't guarantee our children's safety. After that, she began crying and telling the PTA how all her kids were good kids--and how unfairly they were being portrayed on Dallas.Org.

...assuming Hinojosa appoints someone competent to assume the position.]

The problem with DISD is how much money it spends on "consultants." It buys a new program for staff development every few years, usually from a former administrator from Iowa or California who retired.

Consultants could provide a good service, if vetted and supervised. However, DISD's top brass acts like kids with a new computer game: all trying to see how much it can do. Most of the stuff they have is useless at worst, rehashed and repackaged common sense at best.

That is why this forum is so valuable. It shines a light on crud that goes on.

[Ed Note: Trying to turn a ship around with a rowboat :) Oh well, at least some of us who hang around here are committed for the long haul--and we don't get discouraged easily.]

When is someone going to say what we all know to be true?

Hinojosa needs to go.

These incompetents are his hires.

These bad decisions are happening under his watch.

This complete disregard for taxpayer concerns is an absolute by-product of Hinojosa's arrogance.

The homeowners near Hill Elementary are DISD taxpayers. Unfortunately, they are also DISD's victims.

Hinojosa needs to go.

I don't care who replaces him -- he needs to go.

We need a non-educator to be Superintendent.

We need someone who has some touch with reality.

We need someone besides Hinojosa.

[Ed Note: Unfortunately, Hinojosa is a brilliant educator who hasn't mastered the art of surrounding one's self with excellence--as opposed to mediocrity. This will be his downfall.]

I was shocked to go online to the Dallas ISD website and see several schools still in need of a principal.

School begins in 3 weeks, and some of these schools don't have a principal yet.

What is he doing?

I am sure the teachers/parents would like to know who will be running their school.

It has been a thorn in our side for us (as parents of children in the DISD) for years.

The thorn I am referring to is the constant moving of principals from school to school.

How can a school/teachers/students be successful if they are getting a new principal every year?

J.L. Long is a prime example.

Thank goodness for the parents who volunteer tirelessly there every day.

When will our superintendent learn that every time a school gets a new principal, it takes that principal 6 months to a year to learn "the ropes?"

[Ed Note: I think they hire and shift folks around right up until School starts. It's "SOP" and not really Hinojosa's fault. It's just the market.]

Having principals named so late is NOT s.o.p.

Yes, DISD shifts principals around but it is usually finished by the July break.

What you are seeing this year is unprecedented.

There is so much effort in the reorganization that the campuses are not getting the support they need.

Central office is in too much upheaval at the moment.

Dr Hinojosa cannot even see that the campuses are suffering.

He and his senior staff don't seem to care.

And, watch, when the bond fails in November (and I think, we all agree that it will) and the ratings and test scores continue to spiral downward, Dr Hinojosa will say "but I did everything that Dallas Achieves said to do. This place is just not fixable."

Dallas Achieves is a front to take the fall when he fails.

DISD's best hope is for Dr Hinojosa to take the TEA job (yes, its still a possibility) and we get someone in here that can really fix things.

Didn't Lee Jackson's name circulate a few years ago?

Think we could persuade him to try to rescue DISD?

[Ed Note: OK, I'm going to pose the question: if Dr. Hinojosa leaves, who is going to take the job? Though I'm a critic of some of his staff members, he's making some changes that should result in a more manageable district. Mismanagement on the scope of DISD may take years to correct.]

The bond issue for DISD will probably be in the Spring, after the Trinity Toll Road, but before TAKS scores come out.

I can already tell you who will take the blame if we don't get the Broad Prize: teachers.

And you know, so what? It is a lousy million dollars? Will they divide amongst the teachers and staff? Will it go on our resumes?

Dallas Achieves is a good thing in concept. But, any reader who is in the DISD schools, have you actually SEEN anything from them yet? we haven't on my campus.

When it was brought up that not knowing who our principal would be was a little unfair, we were told not to worry, that it wasn't going to affect us. Ironic, eh? A school can exist without a principal, but not without its teachers. And yet.

[Ed Note: Rhetorical question: do teachers really need a princpal that bad? I mean, come on guys!

Yes, I watched way too much Monty Python as a child. I'm sure it has tainted me :) ]

"Help, help, I'm being repressed." Could be a good reference to those who complain but don't actually get involved in their neighborhood schools. Good one.

[Ed Note: Ah! Another Monty fan! But you missed the obvious reference to gang activity: "ah, now we see the violence inherent in the system."]

A lot of Principals know where they are going before the school year ends. However other factors force changes to be made and a delay in that list being made public.

Waiting until this Monday to tell folk will leave PLENTY of school short on staff that won't work with who was put in charge.

Look at Kimball, that principal was removed back in June and rightfully so he was put back and end up losing an assistant principal.

Some don't want to go to the new school and quit the district. I know personally a principal quit because he wasn't about to go to a low performing elementary school. Another school lost an assistant principal because she refused to go to a low performing school.

As for Skyline. That school issue is that it's considered a magnet and regular school. A former principal wanted to house clean some of those students, however couldn't because of the status of the school. Skyline the magnet school needs to move elsewhere.

It's hard to figure out what a school needs in terms of staff, classrooms and wantnot when you have to deal with outside factors.
1) houses/apartments being built
2) an expanding population
3) parents that provide false information about where they live just to attend a certain school
4) Cedar Hill, Desoto and Duncanville ISD appear to be more stable than Dallas ISD

True, all the apartments and influx of immigrants near Skyline has helped make it overcrowded. That is the point. It was once a shining star, so innovative, it actually had TOUR GUIDES for international visitors.

Talk to the few original teachers at Skyline. It all went downhill after Frank Guzick left. The feeling is that DISD treated it just like any other high school.

It needs to go back to being a Career Development Center, and the bond issue can build a separate school for the neighborhood kids.

Not knowing who will be principal may be SOP with DISD, but it is a poor operating practice. The community of students and parents who will be affected by this choice should know in May and be able to check out the past effectiveness (or non) of the incoming principal along with credentials for doing the job. They are on the receiving end, and they should have INPUT.

This cavalier attitude toward the end customers is DISD DNA. And if you think they are doing such a great job, send your child to Comstock, Spruce, or Samuel which should have been closed this year due to their unacceptable string of scores. These scores are not borderline; they are indicative of such a loss of instructional time for these students that it is doubtful it will ever be returned.

Hinojosa is a politician. Treat him with the same skepticism you would any other politician. He has not yet shown that he understands how to put effective academic programs in place, and his arrogrance is only matched by the previous buffoon, Moses. If these men had been so interested in teaching children, they would have stayed in the classroom. To say they are instructional leaders is to make a statement that has no reality to it. They are overpaid politicians.

This district is too large. Learning is about building community, especially so where there are at-risk students who need a structured, organized, calm environment. The vacancies so late in the year are indicative of systemic breakdown, not reform.

Some of the existing portables are in awful shape.

They literally look like they are 40 years old inside.

I hope they are replacing them but that doesn't seem to have happened.

Was anything said about why they didn't just put them next to the middle door in the back?

And why did they put them on the girls softball field when they had so many other places to go?

Hill was actually lucky to have internet access in their portables but that was only because several teachers and a former principal put in the wiring themselves.

Of course, they're all at different schools now.

[Ed Note: yes, I feel bad. Our group of volunteers was supposed to have wired those portables the way we did Hexter's. We dropped the ball on that one.]

The new count on portables at hill is 19 total and most likely still counting.

The overcrowding at hill is the byproduct of a social experiment: moving the 6th grade to junior high.

The decision was local. It is not mandated at the Federal or State level.

In a private meeting after every one left, ope administrator told me that the moving company was responsible for setting these buildings at the position noted on the permit.

The permit stated the buildings were to be placed 30 feet from the property line.

Instead, they were placed less than 4 feet from the property line. I wonder just who is going to foot the bill to move them to the right location?

[Ed Note: Wouldn't it have been interesting if, instead of turning his aggression on the crowd, Anderson had gone to bat for the neighborhood--making the moving company do the right thing? I always have to ask myself why some people, in a position of power, when given the choice between right and wrong--sometimes seem to welcome the wrong decision.

Again, don't worry. We'll remind taxpayers (with letters and postcards) when the bond proposal gets floated!]

Speaking of portables at Hill Middle School - there are at least 20 portables at Seagoville Middle School, if my count is correct.

Few, if any, are wired for internet and none of them had access to phones.

Teachers and students are very isolated from the main building and the security officers inside the school.

In one incident, a teacher had to use her cell phone to call the main office for help with unruly students.

Unfortunately, it was lunch time and no one answered the main line!!!

Students must enter the main building in the mornings through the metal directors but could and did easily hide weapons, drugs, etc. underneath the portables before school or even during the day.

Teachers expressed their safety concerns for themselves and their students but the issues of phones, etc. were met with an arrogant attitude similar to Mr. Anderson's: "I said no, and that's that."

These administrators would never be tolerated in a business world. They are in a position of power and certainly take advantage of same.

I wonder how many teachers would leave the field if they had skills that would transfer.

[Ed Note: I thought the 2002 bond election was supposed to cut down on the number of portables!!! I guess they just need more money to throw at the problem, eh?]

Your comment was chugging along until the last part. The clear majority of teachers could do something else. They usually have! Many teachers stay because they see teaching as a "calling," not a job.

The way teachers are treated goes back to the way the district is observed.

If more citizens got involved, the pressure to find administrators who know how to LEAD, not MANAGE, would result in a better climate.

Also, if DISD would REWARD principals who are honest about the help they need, instead of crucifying them, that would bring change to the atmosphere in the hallways.

[Ed Note: You know, you just hit the nail on the head as to why I'm still optimistic about DISD. Many teachers are not here for the money; rather, because they want to make a difference in lives.

Once we fix the administration, things will be good here again. It's nice, when you are trying to turn a ship around with a rowboat, that you have committed folks (teachers) who are already facing the right way.]

It is a shame that the Dallas ISD continues to place portable after portable on our campuses--especially since that was supposed to be addressed by the last bond issue.

I would urge those who live next to schools with large numbers of portables to also check out the lunch schedules for that school. Some of our elementary campuses last year had lunch beginning at 10:30am with the last shift not beginning until 1:00pm or 1:30pm.

The older kids ate later while the younger kids ate earlier.

However, there was no snack break early for those kids eating late nor was there one for those eating so early. The Dallas ISD wants our children to be successful in the classroom, but, they don't seem to follow the basic necessities for anyone to function properly, much less learn.

Someone who is hungry is not going to function or learn very well!

So, check out the lunch schedules at these schools and be sure to contact your Dallas ISD Trustee and Superintendent Hinojosa with your findings. Maybe then something will be done for the CHILDREN!

[Ed Note: That's actually a very good point. The schools were originally sized for a certain population. That includes peripherals such as auditoriums, restrooms and cafeterias.

Does simply adding classroom space overtax these other facilities?]

Yes, Cafeterias, Auditoriums, Restrooms, all based on original estimates of school population and don't forget how custodial staff, administrative staff and clerical staff are all based on quite an enrollment spread in allocations, never taking into consideration placement of buildings, portable or otherwise.

Portables are misnamed as is evident at Hill.

Nothing Portable about them according to Mr. Anderson.

Perhaps the folk in the Hill neighborhood should take lessons from John Price and the Warriors and do some baby stepping.

Phone calls to downtown every day over everything from litter to gangs driving by.

A few well placed visits from the fire marshals and health department seems effective as well.

[Ed Note: OK, first two lessons: (1) protests don't work; (2) when governmental agencies "fight" each other, there is a lot of sabre rattling and "harsh words" but nothing ever comes of it.

There are two weapons that Dallas voters have at their disposal: (1) "un-electing" officials who let their administrators run amok and (2) voting down the upcoming bond proposal--not to punish the administration, but to inform them that they're not ready for that kind of responsibility yet.

The decision to move 6th grade to Middle School was horribly planned--and it was not a mandate; it was something DISD administration decided to do on their own. It's starting to look like there was very little in the way of infrastructure planning done, and several neighborhoods (not just Hill) may well end up suffering for the lack of planning.

I'm by no means trying to discourage you from calling Code Compliance or the Fire Department at every available opportunity. I'm just saying that, in the long run, this will not change the essence of DISD's administration...

...which is what really needs to be done.]

Teachers from NEA Dallas, PTA presidents and others spoke out quite loudly not to put 6th graders in middle schools. The issue of small 6th graders around 8th grade thugs was dismissed.

Apparently, the issue of 6th graders bullying 1st graders was the issue, as was overcrowding. Look at the board. They were mostly re-elected anyway. Why?

A seat on the school board is often seen as a stepping stone to higher political ambitions. It is also often a way to get cronies into a position to okay contracts or move private agendas.

Rarely do you have a school board member who actually, sincerely sees the world through the perspective of the classroom, the school and the neighborhood.

I do disagree about protests not working. They can, but they have to be done early, often, with focus and be results-oriented.

I actually challenge the Hill neighborhood to protest. Get out there and draw more press attention. Stack the speaker's list at the meetings. Sign petitions--a way to draw attention to unaware neighbors.

I know you and others work hard for Hill. Time to get a little more militant. (After all, that is how Ron Price, John Wiley Price and others got their start.)

[Ed Note: I'm not a big fan of big sign-carrying, screaming protests. It may be how Ron and John got their start, but they're not doing it now.

Some new administrators need to "learn the ropes" and quit being vendictive. Others need to work on getting better organized. You'll eventually see that.]

Over the last 30 years, the quickest resolves at DISD were after protests of one kind or another.

Townview should be renamed for JWP for it was his continued protests (although I did not necessarily agree with tactics) lowered the class sizes and caused the additional on his list corrected to correspond to the TAG standards.

The RIF in 1992 got attention only after the student walk outs and protests (again - unfortunate that it had been ignored until then) The list goes on.

Protests can many times result in immediate attention to one problem leading to sytemic change or reform across the board - civil rights, Viet Nam, even hot lunches in school were a result of a kind of protest.

DISD is very adept at waiting. They are experts at wearing people down or wearing them out.

Eventually hasn't happened yet.

The culture is so evil, uncaring and arrogant at DISD, the only hope is one school at a time.

Training parents, neighborhoods, and citizens to be active, to be informed, and to be positive that they can make a difference.

Positive protests over negative behavior from the DISD will work. To have 5 intelligent and student centered trustees on the board at one time is a happy thought, but when was the last time?

[Ed Note: I will tell you that I haven't been as optimistic about the District, and it's future, as I am now. Things are very slowly trending upward, and I think the trend will continue. Change in a large bureaucracy always comes slowly. But I think it's trending well.

This doesn't mean there's not more housecleaning to do, but they've become very responsive to problems--where they were not a couple of years ago.]

Just wanted to thank you for the opportunity to bring up critical DISD issues here on this site and to all who have contributed their information and opinions. This site has been very helpful and definitely a valuable community asset.

I know many have been wondering...Dallas ISD has finally updated it's Salary Schedule.

New teacher salaries have raised from $42000 to $43500.

Not as high as many other metro districts, but still competitive. Just FYI...

[Ed Note: Just FYI, we have a story coming regarding something the District's doing that may eat all that up for ya!]

I am a teacher assistant and have worked for the district for 27 yrs. and my salary is just over 32,000.00 So hurray for the new teachers raise!!!!!!!!!!!!!