My Two Cents

This morning as I read the article about last night's school board meeting in the Dallas Morning News, I find myself with many unanswered questions and concerns about decisions that were finalized by our elected leaders. As most have heard, Dallas is planning to close 11 schools, including the one I have worked at for the past six years. They cite low enrollment and the need for more budget cuts as the reason for these closures. I understand that our district, along with districts across the state, are in crisis due to the severe cuts levied by the state last year and that difficult decisions have to be made. I just don't always understand the thought processes and rationales that go into them and I wonder who is actually doing the research that goes into these decisions.

For example, when I applied at Pearl C. Anderson, it was a large middle school that serviced eight feeder elementary schools. It was the only middle school in South Dallas. From Pearl C., students went on to either Madison or Lincoln. However, my first year here, the district opened Billy E. Dade (which had been an elementary school) as a middle school and split our enrollment. Now we only have four feeder elementary schools, as does Dade. Our enrollment has declined every year since. The low enrollment was compounded when the Dallas Housing Authority made the decision to demolish the Rhodes Terrace and Turner Courts housing projects in this area, which displaced hundreds of families to other parts of Dallas. This was about 3-4 years ago that the housing projects closed and were torn down. They were supposed to be rebuilt which means families would eventually return but so far I haven't seen any progress or heard any news about when that is going to actually begin. As a result, H.S. Thompson Elementary, Pearl.C, and Lincoln took big hits to enrollment, which meant we took big hits when it came to staff layoffs.

Now in 2012, we have only around 450 students enrolled at Pearl C., which is a building designed for 1100+. I've heard that H.S. Thompson has less than 200 students and it is a very large building as well. I'm not questioning the fact that some schools may need to be closed or consolidated to save money. However, I am particularly concerned about the middle school consolidation. As I understand it, Pearl C. students will be transferred to Dade. As I mentioned, Dade used to be an elementary school and is designed as such. Classrooms are small in size and they have numerous portables set up outside to accommodate the small enrollment that they have now. (Dade's enrollment is about the same as ours...400-500 students, if not less). There has been talk that the district is going to build a new school that will house Dade. Meanwhile, the bond work that was started on Pearl C. has been stopped. My question is that if we are trying to save money, how does it make sense to spend millions of dollars to build a brand new school building for Dade and transfer our kids over there, when realistically, they could just finish the renovations on Pearl C. and transfer Dade's kids back over here like it was set up originally. Pearl C. is an older building, but it is large and has been well-maintained and has more than enough room to house 800 students without setting up a hundred portables, as will be the case at Dade. I think with a few renovations (which were scheduled as part of the bond), it has several years of life left in it. Instead, they are going to spend millions building a new school building while this one sits vacant and further contributes to the property value decline and economic depression in this area. That just seems counterproductive to me. It seems it would be more logical to postpone the building of the new school for a few years until the economy and school funding stabilizes and in the meantime, use the larger middle school building (which is Pearl C.) to consolidate students. DUH!!!! But I guess they want to play fruit basket turnover with everyone in South Dallas yet again.

I also have concerns because the school board changed the policy on what will happen to teachers in these closed schools. In the past when schools closed or consolidated, the teachers at the schools that were closing often were automatically transferred along with the students. However, this time all teachers from the closed schools are just going to be released and will have to re-apply for jobs along with everyone else. This just seems like punishment to teachers who have been dedicated and committed to these schools for decades. The district is talking about laying off 400 more teachers next year, but it seems like it should be based on factors that are somewhat within the teacher's control, such as job performance, not school closure based on enrollment. It just seems like a human resources nightmare to try to figure all that out. Supposedly there is some kind of formula that is used when there is a reduction in force but it has always been very vague what that criteria is. It just seems like it is going to be real easy for experienced, highly-qualified teachers from closed schools to get lost in the excess pool along with teachers who are non-renewed for other reasons. It doesn't seem fair that they will lose their jobs while less-qualified teachers may get to keep theirs just because their school wasn't one that closed.

Then, I have concerns because I'm also looking down the road beyond just this year or next. What happens when DHA does rebuild the housing off of Bexar Street? There is already an initiative in place to revitalize that corridor. Really nice townhomes are being built and retail is being brought to that extremely depressed area. But what is closing schools in that neighborhood going to do to that effort? Where will families send their kids to school when housing is brought back? Sometimes I just don't feel DISD really does their research and makes informed decisions. I don't feel they stay in touch with what is going on in different communities and neighborhoods that impacts what happens with schools. I don't feel DISD values the input of their constituents AT ALL. They go through the motions of holding community meetings, etc. but their decisions have already been made. There was huge protest about the closings of these schools, but the decision went forth anyways. This makes parents and stakeholders feel disillusioned about the value of their input. They actually mobilized and made an effort to speak up, but their voices were squashed and people were escorted out of the meeting. What's the point of open meetings, community meetings, if what you have to say has absolutely no influence? No wonder no one in this area votes or participates in the political process. No one thinks they are valuable enough to matter.

Another decision that was made without ANY input from the people it affects was to increase the teacher work day by 45 minutes, effective immediately. Okay, first of all, teachers got NO input on this decision whatsoever, yet this will seriously affect many of us. Once again, I'm not saying there's not value in the proposal, but it's all about how you go about things. Teachers are feeling less and less valued all the time, and when you don't feel valued or respected, the quality of your work declines. So let me get this straight....we haven't had a raise in 4 years (or is it longer? I can't even remember) in Dallas. As a result, many of us have chosen to work part-time jobs to supplement income. Cost of living is going up but our pay is stagnant. Last year, they took away a planning period, added an instructional period, increased class sizes, and eliminated performance pay and stipends. The few shreds of time that anyone has without students is eaten up by meaningless meetings, paperwork, and other garbage that is designed to make it LOOK like we are really doing something for kids instead of actually doing something for kids. Teachers are already tired, exhausted, overwhelmed, and underpaid and now you want to extend the workday by another 45 minutes?? With no increase in pay for our time? While taking away stipends, performance pay, and anything that helped make all the time spent in this difficult profession halfway worth it? DISD is setting itself up for an all-out teacher rebellion if they are not careful. The district always fails to realize that sometimes the best solutions come from the people in the trenches. WE are the ones who understand what is really going on and what we really need. We might actually have solutions that make sense too, but we're never invited to the table. Never. We're forced to ride this nauseating roller coaster that is DISD with absolutely no voice and no value.

I know I don't know all the facts...but that leads me to my final point. DISD is absolutely horrible with communication. No one ever seems to know what is going on. There is an unknown "they" out there who seems to make all these decisions but no one knows who it is. Frequent communication, openness to REAL input and suggestions for solutions, and leaders who listen would go a long ways in how the employees in this district feel. Right now, they've got about 10,000 people who are about fed up. It's almost become just too much. Between what we have to deal with in the classrooms with the kids and with what we have to deal with from administration....the passion for educating kids is being drained quicker than Social Security.

I don't have all the answers by any means. But I just don't foresee some of these decisions being in the best interest of the people that they affect most...the teachers and students in one of the most underserved, underepresented, undereducated, and undervalued communities in Dallas.