Greetings, District 2!
With this year’s State Fair of Texas in the rearview mirror, cooler weather and November are almost here!
Below is a summary of what the Dallas ISD Board has been up to over the last month:
WE (STILL) WANT YOUR INPUT! Dallas ISD is setting goals which will guide our actions over the next five years. As a stakeholder, please make your voice heard in either or both of the following ways:
- Attend a Community Listening Session (Schedule Here)
- Fill out and share this DALLAS ISD GOAL SURVEY LINKED HERE.
Dallas ISD District 2 Monthly Updates:
Teacher Hiring, Compensation & Retention in Dallas ISD: It’s no secret that great teachers are the highest impact resource we have in a school system. The results of the work Dallas ISD has been doing for years to recruit and retain teachers is paying dividends: we began the year 99% fully staffed, with only 70 vacancies out of approximately 10,000 positions. Additionally, this year 99% of teachers across the district received a raise, which brings our average teacher salary to $70,500, up more than 21% since 2019 and leading all neighboring districts.
Discover Dallas ISD-Top 4 Reasons to Go!:. This year at Discover Dallas ISD, also highlighted our neighborhood or Legacy schools, in addition to our application-based magnet and transformation schools. Representatives from all schools were be on-site and available to answer questions, including P-TECH, Magnet, STEAM/STEM, Montessori, Personalized Learning, Project-Based Learning, Transformation, Visual & Performing Arts, Dual Language schools, and our neighborhood or Legacy schools.
Career Institute North: Our central campus serving students from Hillcrest, Conrad, North Dallas, Thomas Jefferson, and W.T. White high schools was recently featured in the Preston Hollow Advocate. All of CI North’s pathways and programs aim toward gaining industry-based skills and post-graduation careers which are in high demand in our area. The southern and eastern quadrants of the district also have Career Institutes, and one is on the way in West Dallas.
October Board Meeting Debrief:
This month, Dallas ISD had its regular board briefing and meeting. I’ve chosen to highlight a few items below:
- Dallas ISD Legislative Agenda Approved: This month, the Board adopted its Legislative Priorities for the upcoming Texas Legislative Session. Overall, we have four priorities:
- Increase school funding: There hasn’t been an increase in funding to school systems since 2019 despite rising costs, increasing needs, and unfunded mandates.
- Provide pre-K 3 and pre-K 4 full-day funding: Currently, the state funds pre-K 3 and pre-K 4 at half-day rates, but students and parents need full-day pre-K!
- Increase teaching compensation and retention: Despite no new funding, Dallas ISD has increased teacher compensation by 21% over the last five years. The state should help offset this cost going forward.
- Increase funding for school safety: Safety and security is top of mind for everyone. Last cycle, the legislature mandated new safety requirements but added no funding to pay for them.
- Accountability for public dollars: Given the ongoing push for Education Savings Accounts (ESAs) or vouchers in the Legislature, it is Dallas ISD’s position that any schools or educational entities should be accountable for the same level of public oversight and accountability as public schools. Thank you to Trustee Micciche for spearheading this amendment language!
- College & Career Readiness Goal Update: We received a progress update on our 2025 college and career readiness goal, which has shown incredible growth over the past two years. Dallas ISD exceeded its 2025 goal, with some highlights below:
- TSI (College) Readiness in the district increased 25 percentage points from the Class of 2023 to the Class of 2024.
- Students earning Industry Based Credentials under the new calculation methods increased 21 percentage points between Class of 2023 to Class of 2024.
Progress on the college and career readiness front was aided by significant investment in guidance counselors paired with an improved dashboard for more closely monitoring student achievement in their programs and pathways.
Dallas ISD Bond Construction Update:
Across the district, campus infrastructure upgrades funded by the proceeds from the 2020 Bond continue, details of which can be found on the Bond 2020 dashboard.
As always, please reach out to me if you have thoughts, ideas, questions, concerns, or simply want to say hello!
Best,
Sarah Weinberg
Stay up to date on the news from the district by following us on social media @Dallasisd and @dallasisdEspanol.
