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8/4/2019 Impact: Volume 5
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/impact-volume-5 1/8
i m p a
c t
VOL. 5THE IMPACT OFTHE DISTRICTAND THE
STATE INTRANSFORMINGEDUCATION
76% of Americans think parents are themost important factor in determiningwhether students learn in school.
Reading for spiritual reflection
Esther was an unlikely queen.
Through a surprising turn of events,
a Jewish orphan became the Queenof Persia. The Jewish people in
Persia were a struggling minority.
Esther kept her religious identity a
secret from her husband the king
and all the royal court. If she had
been known as a Jew, the king
would not have chosen her as the
queen. Esther intended to keep her
Jewish identity private. But one
person knew the truth--her cousin
Mordecai.
Mordecai learned of a conspiracy
from within the royal court to destroy
all the Jews throughout the kingdom.
Since he was a close relation of the
queen, he went to Esther and
implored her to have compassion on
her people and ask the king to
intervene on their behalf. Esther was
not quick to come to the rescue of
the Jewish people. It would mean
risking her true identity. It was also
unheard of to go to the king without
having been summoned, and she
would be risking severe punishmen
and even death for approaching
him. Mordecai had to convince he
that it was the right thing to do. He
said to her: “Do not think that in thking’s palace you will escape any
more than all the other Jews...Wh
knows? Perhaps you have come to
royal dignity for just such a time as
this” (Esther 4:14). Finally, Esther
consented, saying, “I will go to the
king, though it is against the law;
and if I perish, I perish” (4:16).
continued
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questionsfor discussion.
Use the space below eachquestion to record your
How can localadvocacy effecteducation reform at
a district level?
How much do youthink the federalgovernment should
be involved ineducation reform?
How does politicseffect educationreform?
others in your Action Group.
Post responses on your Action Group’s page atDallasFACET.org.
“It is difficult, often impossible,to raise healthy children in adisintegrated community.Without local institutions thatdraw families and youngpeople together aroundcommon interests andactivities …even the mostheroic child-rearing is likely to
fail. Conversely, by gatheringand organizing members of the community aroundactivities of common interest —particularly the healthydevelopment of children —even the most devastatingconditions can be reversed.”
The Harlem Children’s ZoneBusiness Plan 2001-2009
We have a complex system of
institutions and politicians put in place
to ensure a quality educational system
in our city, our state, and our nation.
But just because the structure is in
place does not mean that it is
effective. Injustices are still prevalent
among our school districts, and Dallas
is not immune to them. As the peoplethat are affected by a failing
educational system, it is up to us to
petition our leaders to do something.
Our leaders are good people with
good intentions, but it is easy to get
sidetracked with “politics.” Just like
Esther was not eager to intervene on
behalf of the Jews for fear of risking
her identity and her safety, so many
elected officials and school leaders
fear their political reputations. They
are not to be blamed for this, because
it is how our system works. But as
voting citizens, we can remind them
that quality education is important to
us. We have to be like Mordecai and
not take “no” for an answer. Afterall,
as Mordecai said to Esther, perhaps
they have come to a position of
influence for just such a time as this.
Our leaders have a unique
opportunity right now to save the
future of our children and our city.
And we have an obligation to petitionthem.
Esther did in fact confront the king,
and he welcomed her and heard her
petition. The Jewish people were
saved from annihilation because of
Esther’s courageous leadership, and
because of Mordecai’s resourcefulness
and boldness. Let’s take action on
behalf of the people in our city and
encourage our leaders to do the same.The structures are here for this
purpose. We just have to make sure
they are being used for good.
by Cameron Mason Vickrey
8/4/2019 Impact: Volume 5
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ume FIVE
The Impact
of the Districtand theState in
TransformingEducation
Part 1: District Influences --
DISD
Dallas Independent School District
is the second largest school district
in Texas and is the 12th largest
school district in the United States.
In 2008, it was reported that DISD
had the 7th highest dropout rate of
any urban school district in the US.
In the US, school districts are
independent governing bodies of a
certain group of schools. This
group of schools doesn’t
necessarily have to be within a
geographically bounded area.
Many school districts, including
DISD, have a group that is elected
by popular vote called the “board
of trustees.”
In DISD, the Board of Trustees is
divided into 9 sub-districts. A
representative is elected from eachof the 9 sub-districts to serve for 3
years. The board members have to
live in the sub-district which they
represent, and the people who live
in the sub-district are the ones who
get to vote for their election.
The board is supposed to establish
the standards and policies for the
schools in its district. The board is
responsible for deciding wha
problems in the district are an
finding solutions to fix the
problems. They decide how to
divide the funding and human
resources between the schoo
their districts, and they evalua
school performance. The boa
also hires the “superintenden
the chief executive officer, of
district.
DISD currently includes 223
schools (elementary, middle,
high schools) with plans to opseveral new schools in the ne
future. In the 2011-2012 scho
year, DISD expects to have
155,795 students in the distri
schools. In 2009-2010, 68%
students were Hispanic, and 2
were African American.
From 2007-2010, Dallas ISD
rated “academically acceptaaccording to the Texas Educa
Agency. But, according to the
scorecard from 2009-2010, o
62.2% of graduates took the
or ACT. Only 10.4% of these
graduates who took the SAT
ACT have a “college-ready sc
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his means that only about 6% of
he entire graduating population of
ISD show that they are ready for
ollege, and this does not take into
ccount the high numbers of
udents that drop out beforeraduation.
Many times, people expect the
ndividual schools to produce high
andards and achievement levels,
nd to be the place where change
appens if these standards are not
eing met. But the district can be a
ery important support for the
hanges in the schools on a
roader level. In general, the
istrict has the power to set the
ules about teachers, principals,
eaching content, and access to
esources for the schools. In order
o have real change, the power is
eally in the hands of the district.
art 2: State Influences
he Texas Education Agency (TEA)
nd the State Board of Education
SBOE) guide and monitor activities
nd programs related to public
ducation in Texas.
The TEA oversees all 1,200 of the
state’s school districts and charter
schools. The TEA is lead by the
Commissioner of Education who
organizes the agency and oversees
the statewide initiatives to improveTexas education. The Commissioner
of Education and the SBOE oversee
the public education system of
Texas.
All of these people and groups
work under the Texas Education
Code, a set of laws outlining the
goals and rules of Texas education.
The TEC states that the mission of
Texas public education is to be sure
that all of our children have access
to quality education that will set
them up to become successful
citizens in the future. One of the
main goals of the TEC is to “involve
parents in their child’s education.”
The State Board of Education’s job
is to make the policy for the Texas
public school system and to provide
leadership for the state’s education
system. There are 15 members of
the SBOE who are elected from
districts that are about the same
size within the state.
The duties of the SBOE include:
establishing goals for the public
school system and setting 4 year
plans to accomplish them,
determining what knowledge an
skills students should learn in
school, deciding what scores on
standardized tests are good eno
to “pass,” and organizing andmanaging the “Permanent Scho
Fund” which is a collection of pu
domain land rights whose sales’
profits go to the PSF.
SBOE and TEA make sure that
schools are doing their job of
educating students through
standardized testing data and o
assessments. The STAAR test
(previously the TAKS test) is use
see if students are on track with
knowledge and skills that they
should be learning in school.
The TEA publishes an
“Accountability Manual” every
with a detailed description of ho
the data collected from testing a
classroom assessments is used a
analyzed to evaluate schools. T
TEA also publishes the district an
individual schools’ accountabilit
ratings using current and past da
Each school can be rated:
“academically unacceptable,
academically acceptable,
recognized, or exemplary.”
Map of DISD Area
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The TEA divides and gives billions
of dollars to different programs that
support public education. The
money comes from several sources
ncluding state and federal funds,
grants (gifts from organizations),the Permanent School Fund
endowment, and others.
Part 3: Federal Influences
n the United States, the role of the
federal government in education is
imited. The 10th amendment of theU.S. Constitution says if powers are
not granted to the federal
government or prohibited to the
states specifically in the
Constitution, these powers are then
reserved to the states or the
people. This means that since the
Constitution does not say that the
federal government gets to makecurriculum or set other educational
standards, the rights to do these
things automatically are transferred
to the state and local levels. And
ndeed, most education policy is
decided at the state and local
evels.
The U.S. Department of Education
(ED) is a cabinet-level department
of the United States government.
Their mission is “to promote student
achievement and preparation for
global competitiveness by fostering
educational excellence and
ensuring equal access.” This meansthat in general the ED works to
prepare the children in the US for
future success through education
and works to be sure that every
child in the US will have an equal
opportunity to access quality
education.
The ED accomplishes these goals
by making policies about federal
education funding, distributing this
funding, and monitoring the use of
this funding. They collect data and
do research on America’s schools.
They raise awareness about major
issues in education in the nation,
and they enforce national laws
about discrimination in programs
that receive federal funds.
The ED is involved with several
important laws. Through No Child
Left Behind (NCLB) or the
“Elementary and Secondary
Education Act,” the ED coordinates
efforts to hold schools accountable
at the state and local levels. It
requires states and local districts to
meet Adequate Yearly Progress
criteria in Reading/Language A
Mathematics, and Graduation R
or Attendance Rate.
The ED also organizes additiona
funding sources for schools suchthe School Improvement Funds a
the Race to the Top funds. Scho
Improvement Funds give money
Title 1 schools (schools with high
numbers or percentages of poor
children) in order to make need
improvements. With the money
from the government, the schoo
should be able to meet the AYP
requirements. Race to the Top
(RTTT) funds go to schools in sta
that take on ambitious but
achievable reform in the areas o
high standards, data collection,
retaining quality teachers and
administrators, and turning arou
the lowest-achieving schools.
Part 4: Political Influencesand You
Federal versus state control of
education is a historic debate.
Some believe that the only way
hold schools accountable is to h
a national educational governin
body with national standards.
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Others believe that all schools
ave very different issues that
eed to be addressed by setting
tate and local standards for
hange.
his debate can become very
olitical. Historically, conservatives
end to favor state control over
ederal control. A more state-
avored approach maintains that a
ational education authority does
ot allow the states and local
istricts to make changes that are
pecific to their local schools.As soon as one of the main
olitical parties in the US adopts a
iewpoint, it becomes a bipartisan
ssue, meaning that believing or
upporting one side of the issue of
ederal vs. state control of
education standards immediately
becomes a political issue when
mentioned. When debates are
politicized it can become difficult
to make real progress towards
changes. People might be afraid to
support one side of an issue
because they are worried about
being associated with a certain
political party (Republican or
Democrat). It also becomes
difficult to make changes when
influential groups, like Teachers’
Unions and other groups, have
connections with certain politicalfigures who have large influences
in national and state policy. This is
why everyone needs to work to be
sure that the real issues of quality
education are being addressed
and not just the political ones.
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Make a list of 5 things you
think could be better in our
schools--whether in Dallas,
in Texas, or nation-wide.
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
Next to each item,
determine where you would
go to advocate for these
changes: local, state or
national officials.
good ideas?
let others hear them on
DallasFACET.org
Further Information
To learn more about DISD check out the school district scorecard:
http://www.dallasisd.org/scorecards/pdfcards/0910%20District
%20Scorecard.pdf
More info about the Texas Education Agency and the State Board of
Education can be found at: http://www.tea.state.tx.us/
index2.aspx?id=3793
Learn more about the US Department of Education: http://
www.ed.gov/
1. Go to www.DallasFACET.org & create a New Account2. Take action on current Action Alerts3. Join an Action Group & take part in the online conversation on your groups blog4. Invite friends to join.
Ste s to Take Action”Our lives begin to end
the day we become silentabout things that matter.”
The Rev. Martin Luther King Jr
SPECIAL THANKS for the research and development of materials toAnn Drumm, Melva Franklin, Maria Rojas Fernandez, Leslie Johnson,
Shree Moffett, and Cameron Vickrey.
Work product of Dallas Faith Communities Coalition. Permission required for reproduction.
DFCC2011
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