Miss Ponytail Dallas Morning News Throws a TJ Tantrum

The Dallas Morning News editorial page is schizzy. Most of the time, it’s pretty smart, even measured and thoughtful, at least on local non-partisan issues. But every fifth Thursday or something, a whole different crazy newspaper appears on my lawn. Right toe forward, hands on the hips of its checkered…

Dallas’ 7 Community Colleges Plan to Become 1

The Dallas County Community College District will seek approval from its accreditor later this year to merge its seven schools into one in an effort to help more students graduate.  Joe May, the district chancellor, said he was motivated to pursue the change after realizing that thousands of students were being…

It’s Time to Walk Away from Baylor Sports

Baylor University’s athletic department is having a banner winter. Its football team, two years removed from a 1-11 season, finished 11-3 and made appearances in both the Big 12 Championship Game and the Sugar Bowl. Its men’s basketball team is No. 1 in the country, according to the Associated Press…

Miguel Solis, On Way Out from School District, Looks Back Not in Anger

Last week, a day before candidate filing opened for the upcoming school board election, East Dallas/Love Field Dallas board member Miguel Solis announced he will not seek reelection. His public statement maintained a certain aura of mystery. He didn’t announce new plans. It was sort of like, “And now my…

National Civil Rights Group Pushes Back in UT Affirmative Action Lawsuit

A national civil rights group is asking a Texas court to rule against an anti-affirmative action organization that’s seeking to have the University of Texas’ admissions policy declared unlawful. The Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law, a Washington-based nonprofit, filed a petition in intervention last week in Students for…

Texas Law Professors Sign Letter Calling for Trump’s Impeachment

A group of 16 law professors from Texas universities were among hundreds of legal scholars who signed an open letter stating President Donald Trump has “engaged in impeachable conduct.” The letter, which was addressed to Congress, was posted Friday on Medium. In the letter, the legal experts say they take…

Two Books Offer Light on This Local Trouble We Call School Reform

In a casual conversation about suburban public schools and ethnic diversity recently, I noticed that the person with whom I was chatting did not believe the presence of Asian American students in a school system should be counted toward diversity. In fact, she sort of felt it worked the other…

What Government Inflicted on the City, Why Can’t It Redress?

In a neighborhood with problems, the last thing anybody needed was a big, bad abandoned building. Something like that is a scary billboard warning people away. All the more appalling for the owner of it to have been the public school system, whose No. 1 priority ought to have been…

Dallas Schools Doing OK, No 10 Plagues of Egypt, Trustee Claims

We must knock wood and throw salt over our shoulders. Don’t say anything to mess it up. But the Dallas public school system, already an unheralded center of innovation, may also be emerging as an unheralded beacon of stability. And the unheralded part — no New York Times stories, no 60 Minutes…

UNT Attorney Resigns After Using N-Word During Campus Panel Discussion

University of North Texas officials are condemning a university system attorney’s use of a racial slur during a campus forum on First Amendment protections Thursday evening. Caitlin Sewell, assistant general council for the UNT System, used the word as an example of protected speech during a panel discussion titled “When…

Students from Tornado-Damaged Schools Return to Class

At a little after 9 a.m. Wednesday, Kristen Dale was walking the halls of Thomas Edison Middle Learning Center in West Dallas, stopping groups of kids as they passed. Where are you headed? Do you know where you’re going? she asked. Some of them, being teenagers, tried to blow her…

Obscured by Tornado News, an Important Story at Dallas Public Schools

Something important in local education has happened over the last few days, a story that has already slipped beneath the wave of tornado news. It is worth noting as both a harbinger of progress and a very depressing reminder why progress comes hard. Dallas school Superintendent Michael Hinojosa has announced…