Comments on: DISD: “The White Man’s Burden?”

By: Bruno

Bruno — Thu, 09 Oct 2008 18:12:55 +0000

Why do so many on Dallas Achieves! live and pay taxes outside of the DISD? Why do so many seem to be bond contract holders, vendors, or related and no one seems to notice?
How were the appointments made? And the big one, why are they not subject tp TExas Open meetings Act when they are policy makers?

By: JKR

JKR — Thu, 09 Oct 2008 17:21:13 +0000

“and a small, shrinking enclave of die-hard (but dying, nonetheless) middle class whites in the select parts of east Dallas”

Actually we prefer East Dallas with a capital “E”. Could you explain The above statement? It would seem to indicate a lack of knowledge about our part of town.

By: Librarian2008

Librarian2008 — Thu, 09 Oct 2008 16:01:42 +0000

DISD needing a do over is an understatement. The do over needs to start at the top of the DISD chain from Hinojosa on down. The district has tons of money it has squandered at the expense of Dallas children, including my child who as of this year will NEVER and I mean NEVER attend another DISD school. I currently drive him all the way to the suburbs to go to school daily, a sacrifice I am more than willing to make for his education. I wish he could go to the school just 5 minutes away but due to ineptness, teacher morale (as in teacher’s who are just collecting paychecks, sitting in halls talking on cell phones, handling personal business in class (ATWELL MS), you name it…), a lack of textbooks new or used, etc…he will not be going to DISD ever. This from a parent who received a class A education from Atwell & Carter High Schools. I am now a Librarian, which means I have my HS diploma, Bachelor’s Degree and my Masters of Science degree. My son will be successful in spite of urban school districts such as DISD because I am committed as a parent, but what about other parents who don’t have the wherewithal to followup because of job committments etc…all I can say is heaven help us all.

By: Trey Garrison

Trey Garrison — Thu, 09 Oct 2008 14:02:23 +0000

A friend pointed out that I was overly broad in my generalization. There are many people in South Dallas who are middle and upper class; there are plenty of poor people in North Dallas. But that’s more the exception than the rule.

I exaggerated and generalized to underscore the two extremes and the widening of the gap.

And I wanted to preserve that late-night, brutally honest tone in my chat with Tim, so I didn’t feel right rewriting it.

By: Shawn Williams

Shawn Williams — Thu, 09 Oct 2008 12:10:31 +0000

Trey, thanks for clearing up my quote.

The question that you raise is legit. There are a lot of white middle to upper class families in Dallas but many of them don’t even consider DISD. The same is true for many Black families in the same financial situation.

It’s funny though that many of those same families will fight like Hell (black and white) to get there kids into Townview. It’s befuddling to me how the same district can have 2 or the top 5 high schools IN THE NATION, and cannot figure out how to share that success with the rest of their schools.

DISD needs a do over.

By: Matt

Matt — Wed, 08 Oct 2008 18:31:58 +0000

“considering how white Dallas has so long neglected black and brown Dallas”

Huh. Does that imply a responsibility of “white Dallas” to provide for “black and brown Dallas”? Why?

By and large, the whites have already left DISD. Either they’ve moved out of the district, like you, or they’re sending their kids to private school, like me. The big difference being that I’m having to support a school district I won’t put my kids in. I bristle at the idea that I’m “neglecting” anyone by failing to spend enough of my money on them.

As for motives, I was struck a comment that Edwin Flores made at a community meeting last night — that Texas plans its future prison capacity needs by surveying second-grade literacy rates. If that is based on a real correlation, I can see why “all these white people” are interested in getting someone else’s kids educated — because we’re going to pay for their education, or pay for their incarceration.