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Feb 23, 2009 5:27 pm US/Central
Talk Surrounds Possible City Takeover Of The DISD
DALLAS (CBS 11 / TXA 21) ―
Is it a move to take over the Dallas Independent School District? A Dallas Morning News report indicates Mayor Tom Leppert wants the city to run Dallas schools.
When asked about the possible takeover, the mayor declined comment. The mayor's office only said that the matter is being discussed and that there is no plan in place.
Critics of the possible move say the City of Dallas has enough on its plate and certainly doesn't need the DISD added to it.
The DISD is a school system challenged by below average student performance and embarrassed by a financial deficit that eliminated hundreds of teachers from classrooms.
Leppert used that backdrop, according to sources, to float the idea of the city taking over the governance and management of the school district.
While Leppert wouldn't directly comment Monday, others tied to city and school leadership had plenty to say.
"The fact that we're talking about this is not saying that it's going to happen," said Dallas City Councilman Dwaine Caraway. "But we would be foolish not to put all options on the table. And this is just another option, at this time, that's being talked about."
DISD Board President Jack Lowe said, "I don't see how the city council or the mayor can take over the school district. One – I don't see how you could do it. And two – I'm not at all convinced it would be better for the school district."
The DISD is a $1 billion operation. Texas Education Commissioner Robert Scott would only say he's had conversations with lawmakers and Dallas political leaders about the school district.
Political analysts say the Mayor is doing more than talking. "One of the first calls he [Leppert] made was to Senator Royce West, because he's gonna have to get some kind of authorization out of Austin for this move to be made," claimed Southern Methodist University Professor Cal Jillson.
Dallas School district students, 90-percent of them minority, are a stark contrast to the city's overall population. That reason alone, some say, is reason enough to keep the mayor's hands off the school district. "All the indicators, that to me would justify a city taking over a school district, just aren't there," commented DISD Trustee Leigh Ann Ellis.
Right now it seems to be all talk, and no action.
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