You have to love the juxtaposition of the headlines in today’s DMN: On the left, positive news about DISD improvements, while on the right, a trustee griping about racism. In a nutshell, that pretty much says it all about DISD and the crippling problem always lurking in the shadows as the district tries to streamline and improve.
The National Center for Educational Accountability notes that, while DISD has a ways to go, it "seems to be engaged in precisely the type of work that [researchers] argue is the most challenging — and potentially profitable — in school reform." In other words, the ship is pointed in the right direction.
But next to it, DISD trustee Ron Price’s briefs are in a wad about what he perceives as possible cuts to the district’s learning center schools, which he seems to believe are primarily there for the benefit of African-American students, I guess. And he whines further about why Hispanic trustees are questioning "black" programs, while black trustees aren’t questioning Hispanic ones, how minority administrators were "targeted" in recent district cutbacks, and more. Price’s solution: He and the two other black trustees petition the state to withdraw their representative districts from DISD. Like that’s really going to happen.
There’s probably a point there about the learning centers: I believe they were instituted as part of the now-gone federal desegregation order, and I tend to doubt the need for them now, particularly since the district’s studies seem to indicate that the additional resources being spent at the learning centers are producing virtually the same student test scores earned at standard district schools.
But Price seems to be harkening back to the days of yesteryear, when armed freedom-fighters would descend on DISD board meetings long enough to get on TV, yell some racist charges and then retreat to wherever. Meanwhile, the rest of the board — to its great credit — seems to be keeping its collective mouth shut and hoping Price will wise up. As Supt. Hinojosa was quoted saying in the News: "he’s entitled to his opinion." Which is very true. It’s just too bad his opinion is knee-jerk rather than considered.
