Dallas ISD Trustee Maxie Johnson has been named The Dallas Express’ Bad Apple of Q4 for the 8,160 students he abandoned at schools with alarming student achievement outcomes.
The Dallas Express considers any student attending a school with a Student Achievement Score of 69 or below to be abandoned by the school district, the trustee within whose education district the student’s school is located, and the entire school board.
Johnson, who represents Education District 5 — which includes parts of the Oak Lawn area, West Dallas, the cities of Wilmer and Hutchins, and parts of eastern and southern Oak Cliff — had 15 schools in his district earn below 70 out of 100 on their campus student achievement scores based on the Texas Education Agency’s accountability reports for the 2021-2022 school year.
Despite the hard work of Dallas ISD’s dedicated educators, 8,160 youths were let down by the elected leader at the helm of this education district in Texas’ second-biggest public school system.
Johnson was first elected to the school board in May 2019. According to his biography page on Dallas ISD’s website, Johnson has been serving as a pastor at New Morning Star Baptist Church in West Dallas. He has also “worked in the community for more than 15 years as a community liaison, community organizer, and football and baseball coach.”
In spite of the service he may have provided to youths as a pastor, coach, and community organizer, the students who attended school in the D- and F-rated campuses in his education district during the 2021-2022 school year did not receive a quality education — the overwhelming majority of whom were children of color.
| Demographic Breakdown of Students Maxie Johnson Abandoned | ||
| Student Race | Total Abandoned | % of Total Abandoned |
| Hispanic | 3,411 | 41.8% |
| Black | 4,512 | 55.3% |
| All Other Races | 237 | 2.9% |
| Total | 8,160 | 100% |
These students were trapped at the following schools:
- John Neely Bryan Elementary (F – 56)
- Harrell Budd Elementary (D – 65)
- C.F. Carr Elementary (D – 69)
- Cedar Crest Elementary (D – 64)
- J.N. Ervin Elementary (F – 55)
- H.I. Holland at Lisbon Elementary (D – 60)
- William Brown Miller Elementary (D – 64)
- Clara Oliver Elementary (D – 62)
- Whitney M. Young Jr. Elementary (F – 54)
- Kennedy-Curry Middle (F – 59)
- John Lewis Social Justice Academy at Oliver Wendell Holmes (F – 57)
- Dr. Frederick Douglass Todd Sr. Middle (F – 56)
- L.G. Pinkston High (D – 67)
- Franklin D. Roosevelt High School of Innovation (F – 59)
- South Oak Cliff High (D – 63)
As previously reported by The Dallas Express, there is growing support for school choice legislation in Texas, with more and more families already seeking alternatives to public school districts with poor student achievement outcomes. The Texas Legislature is currently taking up the matter in special session.
The Dallas Express informed Trustee Johnson in an email how many students he abandoned during the 2021-2022 school year, but he could not immediately be reached for comment.
