By Brooke Crum
Sunday marked the five-month milestone for the Beaumont ISD board of managers, who were installed by Texas Education Commissioner Michael Williams on July 21 to rectify the financial and governance problems plaguing the district.
A lot has changed in that time.
In its first few months of service, the board swept out the old by ousting superintendent Timothy Chargois, spokeswoman Jessie Haynes and police chief Clydell Duncan. The board also replaced the...
The charter school business has been booming since 1995 when the Texas Legislature authorized their creation.
Over the years, many outstanding operations have emerged, and many charter permits have landed in the hands of individuals who had no business in the field of education. Revoking a charter once it has been issued has never been easy; it takes years of documented failure to do so. Regrettably, while that record of bad performance is being developed, the schools continue to...
If there’s one word that cuts to the heart of the persistent political tensions at DISD headquarters, it is trust.
Or should I say “a lack of trust.”
That was the big hurdle that Support Our Public Schools faced after launching an unprecedented effort to turn the Dallas public school system into a home-rule district.
A lack of transparency early on — including the failure to succinctly explain the idea or identify those who were peddling it — fueled distrust among many...
Remember a few months back when there was lots of excitement, pro and con, over a plan to reform Dallas public schools?
Maybe we could make the school year a little longer. Maybe we could improve accountability measures.
Maybe, just maybe, we could figure out a way to bleed some of the poisonous politics out of the school board.
What was that movement called again? Oh, right. Home rule.
The idea to draft new rules to govern DISD shot out of the political pipe...
By Morgan Smith
Texas will shut down 14 charter school operators that failed to meet heightened financial and academic performance rules this year, state education officials announced Tuesday.
The action comes as a result of a provision in a 2013 law aimed at expanding the presence of charter schools in the state. The law requires the Texas Education Agency to revoke a school's charter if it fails to meet state academic or financial accountability ratings for three years....
