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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

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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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notes

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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