Briles Tries to Separate Himself from Baylor in Lawsuit

Late Wednesday, former Baylor University Head Football Coach Art Briles asked a federal court to remove him as a defendant in a lawsuit brought against the school by a former student who claimed she was raped by a player. That player, Tevin Elliot, who has been convicted and sent to prison…

Great News from Dallas Schools, But Don’t Let It Slip By You

Huge news just happened at the Dallas Independent School District. It’s a story that solves the riddle of school reform and ought to end the debate about former Superintendent Mike Miles, at least among people with any intellectual honesty. But it’s about to slide by us virtually unnoticed. First, a…

Dallas ISD Debates Whether to Keep Suspending Little Kids

The Dallas ISD board is going to take a long look at board Vice President Miguel Solis’ idea to get stop suspending kids in kindergarten, first and second grade. Solis hopes it’s not too long. Solis first brought up his plan at last month’s board briefing. Keeping kids out of…

Has Dallas ISD Finally Stopped Hemorrhaging the Middle Class?

Of Dallas ISD’s 227 schools, eight are reasonably affluent,  meaning half or less of their student populations are poor. Even then, to get to eight, one must count William B. Travis Academy (fourth and fifth grades) separately from William B. Travis Vanguard (sixth through eighth) even though they share a…

Fallout from Baylor Sexual Assault Scandal Grows

Baylor’s mess, the one the Southern Baptist Convention-affiliated school  got itself into by turning blind eyes and wagging fingers to women who accused the school’s football players of sexual assault, isn’t nearly settled. Personnel dominoes are still falling, potential athletes are leaving the school in droves and the school’s leadership…

In Dallas, White Flight Never Ends

In the 1970s, when Sam Tasby’s lawsuit forced Dallas ISD to stop slow-walking desegregation, white enrollment began to drop like a stone. In 1970, there were 94,383 white students in the district. By the end of the decade, the district enrolled fewer than half that many, 42,030. The rate of decline…

DeSoto Mistakenly Paddles Kindergartener, Because Texas

On Wednesday night, NBC 5 carried a report about a DeSoto mother, Ayanna Smith, calling for the immediate dismissal of a teacher at The Meadows Elementary for paddling her son, a kindergartener. Which doesn’t seem that far out of bounds given that Texas’ definition of criminal assault (“intentionally, knowingly, or recklessly…

As Trustees Will Learn, Fixing Dallas Schools Means Fixing Segregation

On Thursday, Dallas ISD trustees will be confronted with some sobering statistics about the stark economic segregation that divides Dallas, more than almost anywhere else in the country, into silos of haves and have-nots. According to a 2012 study from the Pew Research Center, 37 percent of low-income residents in…

Dallas City Council Approves Contentious South Dallas Charter School

The fault lines running through the charter school debate Wednesday afternoon at Dallas City Hall were striking. The City Council chambers were filled with kids from one of Uplift Education’s schools, the one that’s been left in a lurch by council rancor over approving a seemingly routine zoning change. Joyce…

Report That Clears UT Athletics of Cheating Still Raises Red Flags

The University of Texas athletic department is unlikely to face any NCAA sanctions for accusations that members of the Longhorns’ basketball teams cheated in several classes. That’s the takeaway from an independent report commissioned by the university to investigate the claims of academic impropriety — at least if you believe…