A proposed $6.2 billion school bond in Dallas is drawing both strong support and pointed criticism as it heads to voters in May.
Trustees for Dallas Independent School District voted unanimously in February to place the sweeping bond package on the ballot, with multiple members pitching it as a long-term “investment” of taxpayer funds in facilities, safety, and student outcomes.
If approved, the bond would fund 26 new replacement schools, campus-wide renovations, upgraded technology, and the elimination of roughly 700 portable classrooms used by nearly 10,000 students, according to district materials. It would also include safety upgrades, new buses, and repairs to aging facilities such as swimming pools.
A district press release emphasized that the tax impact would be relatively modest—about $33.48 annually for the average homeowner—and noted the district would still maintain one of the lowest tax rates among large North Texas districts. They also point to the 2020 bond program, which they say created more than 64,000 jobs and funded major campus improvements.
Critics argue the price tag is excessive and disconnected from the district’s core academic challenges, particularly lagging literacy rates.
Supporters, including business leaders and education advocates, argue the investment is necessary to sustain momentum and improve student environments.
Margo J. Posey, president and CEO of the Dallas/Fort Worth Business Council Minority Supplier Development Council, recently told trustees the proposal would “create real contracting opportunities for small business enterprises” and “generate jobs” while improving learning conditions. She added, “Most importantly, it is about the students… safe, modern learning environments that prepare students for long-term success.”
Critics say the bond reflects misplaced priorities at a time when student performance remains weak.
Recent federal assessment data shows that only 18% of Dallas ISD eighth graders were proficient in reading in 2024, with similarly low outcomes across grade levels, according to the latest National Assessment of Educational Progress results reported by WFAA. Those figures come amid broader declines in reading performance statewide and nationally following the pandemic fallout.
Russell Fish, an education activist with experience setting up schools in impoverished parts of sub-Saharan Africa, questioned whether large capital expenditures address those issues in a telephone interview with The Dallas Express on March 17.
“No,” Fish said succinctly when asked if the $6.2 billion bond is necessary to improve reading proficiency.
Fish added, “Well, I have yet to see a bond issue that affects literacy or mathematical skills… those have nothing to do with buildings,” arguing that academic gains can be achieved through low-cost instructional methods rather than infrastructure spending.
Fish pointed to inexpensive phonics-based materials and his own literacy instruction work as evidence that reading outcomes can improve without major capital investment. He also raised concerns about accountability, saying, “Just because the bond package has… these 10 things that we say we’re going to do, doesn’t mean that those 10 things happen.”
Enrollment trends raise other concerns.
District data shows Dallas ISD has reportedly lost roughly 14,000 students since the 2019-2020 school year. 2019-2020 was the last school year before the previous bond.
Texas education activist Lynn Davenport also criticized the proposal in a YouTube post, questioning Posey’s arguments and alleging in a public response that the bond is “about feeding vendors and business interests,” rather than directly improving student outcomes.
The bond proposal will appear in four separate propositions on the May ballot, giving voters the option to weigh in on different components of the plan.
