Parents with children attending school in the Dallas Independent School District (DISD) feel that a lack of school choice is the main reason the district is one of the worst performing in the state.
In a poll conducted by The Dallas Express, respondents were asked to identify and rank several possible causes for the dismal student outcomes produced by DISD, including factors like a lack of parental involvement or insufficient funding.
A lack of school choice came away as the survey’s top concern, with the answer making its way onto roughly 19% of respondents’ top three choices, edging out 18.6% of respondents who included “mismanagement by trustees” in their top three.
The poll results come as several pieces of school choice legislation continue to navigate the Texas House of Representatives, despite indications that there is not currently enough support there to put something on Gov. Greg Abbott’s desk, as previously reported in The Dallas Express.
Before the COVID-19 pandemic, DISD struggled to keep student-to-teacher ratios for elementary schools under the state-mandated maximum, relying on waivers from the Texas Education Agency (TEA). In October 2019, the district requested more than 200 waivers, all for elementary schools, where at least some classrooms were clocking as many as 28 students per teacher, People Newspapers reported.
DISD has been struggling to find enough teachers to staff its campuses in recent years, deploying various schemes and hiring incentives to try to get enough qualified staff to educate the roughly 142,000 students in the school system.
The Dallas Express reached out to the Texas Education Agency (TEA) and asked how many classroom size waivers DISD filed for this school year. The agency directed the news outlet to a TEA waiver portal, where The Dallas Express found that DISD received 197 waivers for the 2022-2023 school year, virtually all for elementary schools.
Theoretically, the overcrowding issue could, in part, be alleviated by a school choice program that would allow district parents to pursue educational opportunities for their children outside of DISD, thus decreasing the population pressure in almost hundreds of classrooms and allowing the district’s hardworking teachers to devote more time and attention to each student under their charge.
Last school year, only 41% of DISD students scored at grade level on their STAAR exams, and that was with 110 classroom size waivers approved by TEA.
A closer look at the results for DISD third and fourth graders shows just how far behind they are compared to their peers in surrounding districts.
Forty-one percent of DISD third graders scored at grade level in reading, while the average for Education Region 10 (which includes DISD) was 52%. In third-grade math, DISD scored 40% at grade level. The region averaged 45%.
When it came to district fourth graders, only 46% scored at grade level in reading. The region’s average was 55%. In math, only 39% of DISD fourth graders scored at grade level, six points below the regional average of 45%.
I am sorry, but this is a failure of the TEACHERS, the administrators and the school system. The ONLY way to resolve this is to give each parent a full voucher to any school of choice.
Without competition there will be no possibility of the district actually learning how to teach effectively. They frankly do not have to learn how to teach because they get ALL THE MONEY NO MATTER WHAT.
Alternatively, pay teachers only for each child that reached a 90% passing grade test of grade level for a subject. I guaranty the teacher will teach when their income is determined by results rather than attendance. My father had education administrative credentials, and mother had a doctorate in education and said that is the ONLY way to cause the change in the education machine that will result in long lasting and effective results. Make it about RESULTS, not attendance.
Parents have a responsibility to be involved in everything with their kid’s education – so, some success and failure depends on parents. However, freedom of choice should also include the choice of schools that their kids attend. Older students need to take responsibility for their own education as well – which includes attending class, asking for help, doing homework and studying. For those who don’t, no amount of money will help those who are not willing to help themselves. Education today should not be just about needing more money. Enough money is and has been made available. An education will only be successful if teachers, parents and students do their jobs. We have too many administrators making outrageous salaries. No new administrator should be hired and no current administrator should see a dime’s worth of pay increase until the student’s in their district show that they are learning and have dramatically seen positive test results. Passing someone in a class or on to the next grade level needs to stop until that student demonstrates their proficiency in each.