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May 14, 2009 9:58 pm US/Central
DISD Delays Vote On Magnets, Learning Centers
DALLAS (CBS 11 / TXA 21) ―
They pleaded in the street, and they pleaded in front of the board.
"Please, please help us, and don't take my teachers away," said Jazkira Combs, a fourth grader at Charles Rice Learning Center.
Hundreds of angry parents flooded the Dallas Independent School District headquarters, determined to keep the school board from
cutting funds from the district's magnet schools and learning centers.
"It can't be said enough how valuable these programs are to these children and how big an injustice it would be to even consider cutting staff," said parent Norita Jackson.
The federal government has strict guidelines for funding public schools. The DISD School Board delayed its vote to find out if the district's magnet schools and learning centers are exempt from those strict guidelines.
DISD routinely provides the magnet schools and learning centers with more money than other schools; a practice that some parents say is unfair.
"All the kids are the same. All the kids need the same education and all the kids need to be treated in the same way," said parent Patricia Quezada.
The federal government agrees and has instructed the Texas Education Agency to make sure that no school is funded above a certain level. If DISD fails to comply, the government is threatening to withhold $105 million in federal funds.
But the majority in attendance of Thursday's meeting believes learning centers and magnet schools should be exempt because those schools provide a unique education for the gifted and talented.
"If you cut 20 percent of the staff, you will cripple the programs available at those schools," said Dena Stroh, magnet school alumni.
If DISD is forced to cut funds, it is likely to come from the learning centers. The board may also be forced to reassign 200 teachers from these specialty schools to other schools in the district.
(© MMIX, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)
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