A new poll conducted by The Dallas Express found that clear majorities of municipal voters and parents want more transparency from the Dallas Independent School District (DISD).
Respondents were asked whether they support more transparency from their local school district, and the responses came back markedly in the affirmative.
Of the municipal voters surveyed, just shy of 55% logged their support for increased transparency, with about 22% voting “no” and roughly 23% registering as “unsure.”
About 51% of self-identifying parents who responded to the poll agreed with the notion that their local school district should be more transparent in governmental matters.
Approximately 25% of parent respondents said “no,” and over 19% said they were “unsure.”
The poll sheds further light on how district taxpayers and parents may be feeling about the district’s current elected leadership — especially its inability to turn around a school system that has been yielding poor student outcomes.
Per the Texas Education Agency’s (TEA) latest accountability report for DISD, almost 20% of the district’s graduating Class of 2022 failed to earn a diploma in four years. Only 40% of students did not score at grade level on their STAAR exams during the 2021-2022 school year.
Additionally, 29 of DISD’s campuses got failing marks (below 60 out of 100) for student achievement outcomes from the TEA. Consequently, Dallas County ended up at the bottom of the list in a ranking of the Lone Star State’s top six big-city counties, as previously reported in The Dallas Express.
The poll results come in on the heels of the recent deadline for candidacy applications for the three DISD Board of Trustees seats on the ballot this May. Six candidates are vying to represent their communities across three districts, as previously reported in The Dallas Express.
Three candidates are running in District 2 alone: education advocate and real estate investor Jimmy Tran, executive director of Teach Plus Texas Kevin Malonson, and former chief strategy officer for United to Learn Sarah Weinberg. Sitting trustee Dustin Marshall has decided not to run for re-election.
In District 6, incumbent Joyce Foreman is being challenged by longtime educator Steven Poole. District 8 incumbent Joe Carreón is running unopposed.
