Hope is once again alive in the Dallas ISD! With the re-election of Trustee Dr. Lew Blackburn and the election of Eric Cowan, students and employees now have the opportunity for the DISD Board of Trustees to vote in THEIR favor, instead of just going along with what the Administration wants.
This is the first time in six years that we have what some would call a "student/employee friendly board". The first time since Trustees in 2004 told then Superintendent Dr. Mike Moses, "NO!", to tying teacher evaulations to student test scores! The days of the Administration doing whatever it wants, whenever it wants will now be much more of a challenge and that challenge could not have come at a better time.
The newly-elected Trustees will be sworn in this month and have to hit the ground running. DISD has just over a month to finalize and approve its 2010-2011 budget. Already the Administration has done another "staffing formula" change when it comes to Special Education resulting in the release of many teachers and teacher asssistants.
It will be up to Trustees to ask the tough questions and DEMAND the answers. It will be up to them to make sure that this District does not shortchange its students while continuing to pour money into consultant contracts, incentive programs that can not be properly run, and high-priced administrators.
It is now up to all of us who have supported these candidates to continue to support them and to push them. Students, parents, tax payers, and educators must now continously update these Trustees and give them the information that the Administration will sometimes not want to give them.
We still have much work to do. Winning the election was just the beginning. But, because of these elections, Hope Is Alive!
This is the first time in six years that we have what some would call a "student/employee friendly board". The first time since Trustees in 2004 told then Superintendent Dr. Mike Moses, "NO!", to tying teacher evaulations to student test scores! The days of the Administration doing whatever it wants, whenever it wants will now be much more of a challenge and that challenge could not have come at a better time.
The newly-elected Trustees will be sworn in this month and have to hit the ground running. DISD has just over a month to finalize and approve its 2010-2011 budget. Already the Administration has done another "staffing formula" change when it comes to Special Education resulting in the release of many teachers and teacher asssistants.
It will be up to Trustees to ask the tough questions and DEMAND the answers. It will be up to them to make sure that this District does not shortchange its students while continuing to pour money into consultant contracts, incentive programs that can not be properly run, and high-priced administrators.
It is now up to all of us who have supported these candidates to continue to support them and to push them. Students, parents, tax payers, and educators must now continously update these Trustees and give them the information that the Administration will sometimes not want to give them.
We still have much work to do. Winning the election was just the beginning. But, because of these elections, Hope Is Alive!
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