Dallas News Blog

Governor Rick Perry stopped by DISD's Emmett J. Conrad High School on Fair Oaks Ave. yesterday to tout the Texas Workforce Commission's $1 million investment in expanding robotics education programs across the state. Conrad, of course, boasts an estimable robotics club -- the RoboChargers -- that, for the last three years, has actually been in charge of the governor's monthly maintenance.

University of North Texas junior Stephen Michael Benavides

​He sounded a little groggy when he spoke to Unfair Park this morning. But University of North Texas junior Stephen Michael Benavides had a long night: The chair of ACLU's student chapter spent Thursday night appealing to the UNT Supreme Court to adopt language of a failed bill and allow same-sex couples to run for homecoming court.

The Student Senate had failed to pass an earlier bill that would have allowed same-sex couples to run. Later, the Student Government Association drafted legislation for a student referendum on whether "same-sex and/or gender-neutral couples should be able to run for homecoming court," as it says on the school's Student Government Association Web site, where voting begins November 16.

The SGA president, Dakota Carter, helped draft the legislation. "I decided that the people who are voting for those who can win homecoming should be the ones making the rules for who can run," she tells Unfair Park.

Benavides, though, doesn't think such a decision should fall to the student body and will appeal to SGA in the coming week to change its plans. "You should never impose majority opinion in place of minority rights," Benavides says.

"If you can't get the right or the equality to run as a same-sex couple for homecoming court at a university, and university campuses are liberal compared to the rest of the nation, then we've got a big problem here," said Benavides. "If you can't do it on a university, how are you going to do it on a national stage?"

Edwin Flores

​This'll most likely be our one and only item about the race for the Dallas Independent School District board of trustees -- because, judging by the early-voting numbers, well, not too many folks seem to be all that interested. Take the hotly contested District 1 race, for instance: Incumbent Edwin Flores has the early lead with a little more than 50 percent of the vote -- or, a whopping 661 votes. Challenger Kyle Renard, a pediatrician, has so far brought in 492 votes, while Linus Spiller and Mel Cannon received a combined 173 votes.

Leigh Ann Ellis may not return to the board: She's got 310 votes so far, which puts her far behind Mr. Lois Parrott, Bruce, who leads the District 3 race with 439 votes. Meanwhile, Bernadette Nutall is the frontrunner to succeed Ron Price in District 9 with 405 votes. The nearest challenger, Sally Cain, has 214, while Juanita Wallace comes in with 191 in early voting. You can play along on the Dallas County Elections Web site as results come in. But keep in mind, this should be over early: Bruce Sherbet told us yesterday early voting should account for some 40 percent of the overall tally, with results wrapping 'round 9 p.m.

Update at 8:20 p.m.: Can't help it. Here goes: With 19 of 47 precincts reporting, it's Flores, 1,508; Renard, 1,184. In other words: No run-off; not yet. With 10 of 44 precincts reporting, it's Parrott by a beak: 646 votes to Ellis's 516. And in District 9, where it's seven outta 52 in so far, mark it down Nutall, whose 500 is better than Cain's 250 and Wallace's 236 combined.

Update at 8:55 p.m.: Parrott and Ellis remain close: 1,450 to 1,138, respectively, with 35 of 44 precincts in. But Flores's lead only grows over Renard: 2,339 to 1,798, with all but 14 precincts reporting. As for Nutall, she's got 878 votes; Cain, 616. In other words, Flores wins without the runoff; as for the other districts, Round 2 forthcoming. The night's most surprising result? Melvin Cannon's vote count bests Linus Spiller's and then some; proves you don't need to know how to use a computer to get well more than 200 votes in The Bickerin' 1.

Update at 9:14 p.m.: That Bruce Sherbet knows how to call an election. Looks like we're about done here. Flores is back on the board; Parrott and Ellis are headed to a runoff; so too Nutall and Cain.

​Speaking of the Dallas Independent School District and grant money ...

I was poking around the briefing agenda for this week's meeting of the board of trustees and noticed this intriguing item: NASA -- yes, that NASA, not this NASA -- is giving the DISD, via the Foundation for Community Empowerment, $1.45 million to help students with science and math ... and to promote NASA. Per the briefing docs, half the money will go toward a "science-focused website and a computer lab in the designated area of identified Dallas ISD schools and Dallas Pre-K locations," while FCE will take the other half to "fund a mathematics iniative to complement the district's science initiative."

As there's been no announcement of the grant, I called district spokesman Jon Dahlander to find out which schools have been selected to take part; he could only give the number -- 51 elementary schools, 25 junior highs, 17 high schools -- as most of them haven't yet been informed they've been chosen to participate. The board won't vote on accepting the grant till later in the month. But, says Dahlander, the grant will "help out those schools that need the most assistance in math and science. We're very excited about it. How can you not be? This is NASA. This isn't Big Bob's Science Shack." (That's a side business I run; totally beside the point.)

Surely there's at least one Friend of Unfair Park better acquainted with the Dallas Achieves Math, Science and Technology Initiative than I; this is also a big part of that. (Makes sense: FCE president and CEO Marcia Page is a former Dallas Achieve-er and TI exec.) There's also another component, per the executive summary: promoting "a greater awareness of NASA's missions and accomplishments." Me, I'll just show my DISD first-grader The Right Stuff. Again.

​It's a common scenario: an "A" elementary school student suddenly becomes a "C" middle-schooler. What happened? According to local brain health researchers, your child is suffering from information overload.

"He was so overwhelmed by the amount of information he was trying to stuff in," says Dr. Sandra Bond Chapman, chief director of the Center for BrainHealth at the University of Texas at Dallas. She's referring to one ninth-grader she encountered during her research earlier this year on one Dallas Independent School District campus.

With schools relying on standardized test scores almost exclusively to measure a student's aptitude, the focus of education is on memorizing content rather than learning strategy. Kids are cramming information rather than sorting through it to piece together the bigger picture. For a middle-schooler, this kind of educational system is a real hazard.

"Our brain is undergoing more change during the middle school years than any other time in our whole life," Chapman tells Unfair Park. "We've missed this window of cognitive development during middle school."

That's why the Texas Legislature has granted the Center for BrainHealth $6 million to study 2,000 middle-school students across North Texas over the next two years. There will be an official announcement tomorrow afternoon at E.B. Comstock Middle School, where researchers will begin training in the first middle school classroom.

​Whilst doing some research for something that may not lead to anything, I've been reading Walter J. E. Schiebel's Education in Dallas: Ninety-two years of History 1874-1966, published by the Dallas Independent School District. So this isn't entirely an exercise in futility, I thought I'd share some of the tome: After the jump, you'll find Chapter 1 ("The Early Years 1874-1899") and Chapter 17 ("A Forward Look"), in addition to W.T. White's very brief foreword and the August 1965 district map. (And only the DISD would publish a 92-year history.)

And while we're on the subject, a Friend of Unfair Park asks me to remind you about tomorrow night's board of trustees candidate forum for District 9, scheduled for 7 p.m. kick-off in the Woodrow Wilson High School auditorium. This, of course, is the seat being vacated by Ron Price, and all those vying for his spot on the board -- Sally Cain, Bernadette Nutall, Juanita Wallace and Rossi Walter -- are scheduled to attend to "respond to a list of 10 questions compiled by the community council." Audience questions will be taken, should time permits. And it should. Because that's when it gets really interesting.

So jump, lest you fail the exam.

Kyle Renard

​On Monday I moderated a District 1 school board candidates debate, and long story short, all four contenders were thoughtful, well-reasoned and dead-level; even 79-year-old long-shot Melvin Cannon's call for more vocational education was greeted with a few nods of approval. Most of the questions stuck to issues of policy and procedure; "transparency" on the board was the buzzword amongst the candidates, even the one (Edwin Flores) who voted to quash these very elections, so we'll see.

But there were a few uncomfortable moments, such as: Several parents at my son's District 1 elementary school wanted to know why, for instance, Dr. Kyle Renard, a pediatrician with one son in private school and another in Townview, had told The Dallas Morning News last week she couldn't recommend parents send their kids to DISD: "People are very loath to take a risk with their children. ...We have to prove to them it's not a risk [to put their children in public schools]. Right now, I can't tell them that." Some parents believe it's precisely that sentiment that has parents keeping their children out of Dallas public schools -- well, that and stories like this morning's piece about 48 percent of fifth-graders not being ready for middle school.

Edwin Flores

​(Permit me this small detour: Used to be DISD sent us to middle school after sixth grade; that changed not so long ago over many parents' protests. Which I bring up for this reason: At Daniel Webster, the lowest-performing of the lot, only eight percent of its fifth-graders are ready for middle school. But one year later, 56 percent of its students are "on track" for junior high. Maybe that's because sixth-graders are supposed to stay in elementary school? The News story didn't mention the commonplace and occasionally very significant rise in on-track rates among sixth-graders, and a small sampling of the DISD scorecards suggests it's often exponential. Anyway. Just a thought. No doubt I'm wrong. I am, after all, a product of the DISD.)

So, where were we? Oh, yes. Why Kyle Renard can't recommend DISD to parents. On Tuesday, The News -- which has endorsed Flores -- ran a letter to the editor condemning Renard's statement ("reckless disregard for the type of thoughtful deliberation that is required for the culturally and academically diverse student population that makes up District 1") and damning her as "incompetent." Last night, she sent Unfair Park her response to that letter. It follows after the jump. So go -- bell's ringing.

DISD trustee Carla Ranger

​In case you missed it, on Tuesday Tawnell Hobbs published Dallas Independent School District trustee Jack Lowe's list of things he's looking for in an "ideal" trustee. Among his bullet points: "Supports our vision of being the best urban school district in the country." Fantastic. "Makes courageous decisions for the good of the whole district even when it is politically risky." Right on. "Focuses on students and student achievement, not jobs and contracts." Hmmm, really? And: "Support Edwin Flores as Board President for the next two and a half years." Say what? Lowe later said the list wasn't intended for public consumption; can't imagine why not.

Anyway. Today on her blog, trustee Carla Ranger alludes to the Lowe memo when writing that the board's decision to kill the May '09 elections last year almost killed the May 2010 elections as well, per a missive from Texas Education Agency Commisisoner Robert Scott. And what does Ranger think of Lowe's memo, especially the part about Flores, who's up for re-election next month? Not much: "It is very important for citizens to Vote for the candidate of their choice -- not a candidate who has made secret 12-point deals with current Trustees seeking to continue imposing a narrow, destructive and self-serving agenda on the district."

Have I mentioned I'm moderating the District 1 candidates debate Monday at 6:30 p.m. at Marsh Middle School? I have. Excellent. Audience questions will be taken during the forum, but, again, feel free to leave 'em in the comments.

​The American Civil Liberties Union of Texas just sent word that the organization, in coordination with a U.N.-affiliated advocacy group called United Sikhs, sent out a letter warning Texas school districts -- including DISD -- to protect Sikh students from discrimination or bullying. The missive is after the jump.

The letter reminds the superintendents of state laws requiring schools to prohibit and take steps to prevent student harassment. "Because schools are responsible for ensuring the safety of all students," the letter reads, "we encourage you to actively monitor the treatment of Sikh students by their classmates and teachers, and to take concrete steps to guarantee that they are not subjected to bullying, harassment, or intimidation."

According to the ACLU of Texas press release, the letter was sent "directly to school districts where problems have been reported," though when we called spokeswoman Dotty Griffith for a clarifification, she said the move was more of a preventive measure.  United Sikhs "knew of complaints in general, and we joined with them to reach out to school districts with a significant number of Sikhs and inform them of the rights of religious expression and the obligations of the law," says the former Dallas Morning News food critic. "It was more of a preemptive thing just in case there are problems."

OK, so are discrimination, bullying or abuse happening against Sikhs at local schools?

"We're not aware of any incidents," DISD spokesman Jon Dahlander told us. "For years DISD had been a leader in adopting and enforcing anti-harassment policies that extend both to students and employees. If there's an issue at any particular school, it should be reported immediately so it can be investigated promptly."

Kimberly Thorpe

At the Belo Mansion this morning, Michael Hinojosa touched on everything from educational gains to the juvenile curfew.

​Last time we checked, there wasn't much to laugh about when it came to the state of public education in Dallas. But leave it to Dallas Independent School District Superintendent Michael Hinojosa to at least try to insert some humor, even at his own expense.

This morning Hinojosa gave the "State of the District" address at the seventh annual Symposium on Education at the Belo Mansion. "I have good news, and I have bad news," Hinojosa told a small crowd this morning. "The good news is that I hate hearing long speeches. The bad news is I like giving long speeches."

The joke turned into the theme of the address.

On the good side, the Brown Center on Education Policy at the Brookings Institution noted in a report released in February that between 2000 and 2007, the DISD was the second-most improved district in the country and the most improved urban district in Texas. But there are still a lot of kids dropping out -- though, Hinojosa insists, not as many as you thought. "Don't believe the rhetoric when people [tell you] there's a 50 percent drop out rate in Dallas," he said. "That's just simply not true."

If you consider only the federal standards, then students must graduate within four years to not be considered drop-outs. Using that definition, Hinojosa pointed out Dallas ISD's completion rate is "somewhere between 60 and 70 percent." (Don't worry: We're fact-checking.)

And then there's the demographics issue. "We don't apologize for our demographics," said Hinojosa, noting that while Plano ISD has about 55,000 students, Dallas ISD has 55,000 English-language learners alone. "I'm an immigrant myself."

Flickr photo: goatopolis

​Maybe you recall the ruckus raised last May, when some folks up in Frisco got upset with the fact the school district allowed for the dissemination of Gideon bibles on campuses. And no doubt you recall what happened a year earlier, when some Jewish kids in Plano ISD were taunted with bibles and asked, like, won't you burn and stuff if you come in contact with the New Testament? (Silly -- it doesn't burn, but it does sting a little.) Which more or less brings us up to speed concerning the ACLU of Texas report released today: Distribution of Gideons Bibles in Texas Public Schools: Impact on Students' Religious Liberty, which actually takes a look at 10 Texas districts.

The report, in short, recounts the events leading to the distribution of the bibles ("The Gideons encouraged Frisco ISD's Director of Communications to keep their plan to distribute Bibles on 13 district campuses a secret from principals until the day before the distribution, resulting in increased disruption and negative media attention for the district") and reminds school districts to enforce their own policies. And it's full of anecdotes, such as this one:

Parents also complained that so many Bibles were distributed in Plano ISD that they eventually became a distraction for the students, which included using Bibles as projectiles and as props to harass Jewish classmates. One parent complained that her child, a Christian student at Vines High School, was upset when students began throwing the Bibles at one another, tearing them, and using pages from a Bible to roll a joint.

​Struggling to remain viable since losing its Southern Association of Colleges and Schools accreditation this summer, Paul Quinn College yesterday announced a major fund-raising milestone. The historic black college has raised more than $1 million since July, when the Texas Legislative Black Caucus rallied behind the foundering 137-year-old institution. School officials, who this week welcomed a mere 150 students, say that's the most Paul Quinn has collected in a decade.

"Our goal was $1 million, and as of today we've exceeded that mark," state Rep. Sylvester Turner said at a press conference packed with teachers, administrators, students and local politicians. That sum came from individuals, foundations and corporations such as HEB. The Meadows Foundation was the largest donor: When foundation trustee and director Linda Evans presented the school with a check for $500,000, most of the people sitting in the hall rose and gave thunderous applause. "We really believe in you," Evans told the crowd, "And we believe you're going to move forward stronger than ever before."

"We were in the fight of our lives at Paul Quinn," said state Rep. Helen Giddings, "and a foundation stepped up and said, 'We won't let you quit.'"

​So, judging by this sneak peak at the Dallas Independent School District board of trustees' briefing agenda this week, Ron Price has decided to save the district $18,000-plus: He's now recommending giving DISD Chief Academic Officer Robin Ryan a $10,000 raise. Because, as you may recall, Price and superintendent Michael Hinojosa snuck in a $28,225 raise for Ryan, much to the trustees' chagrin after they discovered it a bit too late amongst the consent-agenda items to which they gave their consent. Hinojosa told us last week he was yanking the raise. Still, looks like the board will take another shot at slapping the super on the wrist on Thursday. If they can be bothered to show up to the meeting.

Ah, but fret not: The district has found another way to spend five figures -- on "opinion surveys of Dallas ISD Taxpayers, Dallas ISD Parents [and] Dallas ISD Student (Seniors)." The board won't vote on the contract till its October 30 meeting, but this week we get a sneak peek at how Scott Howell's The Wolf Group will spend $40,000 should the trustees OK the deal: "This set of surveys will constitute both an evaluation and tracking program, with the first set of surveys standing as a benchmark against which future 'waves' of the surveys will be compared to track changes in attitudes over time." The surveys are expected to begin November 2, with the report due on the super's desk by December 4. (Probably ought to file the open-records request now, just to save time.)

Incidentally, I've been asked to moderate a District 1 school board candidates forum at Thomas C. Marsh Middle School on October 19 at 6:30 p.m. All four candidates will be in attendance. Feel free to post suggested questions, but I've already got one: Do we really need to spend $40,000 to find out how people feel about DISD?

Kimberly Thorpe

Now that the air has been cleared regarding Dallas Independent School District Superintendent Michael Hinojosa's poorly spelled add-on agenda item to "undo" the $28,000 raise set aside for Chief Academic Officer Robin Ryan, we can move on to what happened at today's Dallas Regional Chamber meeting: "A Look Back and A Look Forward: Dallas ISD Past, Present & Future."

Hinojosa sat on a stage between former superintendents Linus Wright and Mike Moses, along with moderator Frank Roby, chairman and founder of Concero Global, LLC, to discuss how public education contributes to the economy. Wright made the opening comments, agreeing with two of President Obama's proposals: a nationwide early childhood education program and a longer school day and school year. "When you think about economic development, you need to think about public education," he said.

Moses painted education as bearing the burden of an unjust tax system in Texas, noting that Dallas and Houston are the largest public school districts in the state. Because they also happen to include areas of rising property values, the districts could soon become designated as Chapter 41 districts. This means that instead of getting funding from the state, money instead would be sent back, leaving Dallas and Houston increasingly on their own financially to address education.

"Can you imagine a school district that has students [where] 80 percent of them are economically disadvantaged, which is the case in Dallas and Houston, having to send money back to Austin?" Moses said. "That is I think a very dangerous position to take ... Fortunately, I think this chamber is watching very, very closely."

Kimberly Thorpe

DISD Superintendent Michael Hinojosa at the downtown Sheraton today

​A Dallas Regional Chamber meeting featuring Dallas Independent School District Superintendent Michael Hinojosa has been on our agenda now for some time. Still, we couldn't help but use the opportunity to ask Hinojosa in person about this morning's story by Tawnell Hobbs, who reported that Hinojosa may face reprimand after trustees unknowingly approved a $28,225 raise for a senior administrator at a board meeting last week. That maybe-handslap is on the DISD trustees' agenda for this week's called board meeting.

"What happened on that issue is that Mr. [Ron] Price asked for that to be on the agenda," Hinojosa told Unfair Park, as he stepped down from stage after the meeting. "We both thought it was going to be on the October agenda. And it got put on the September agenda by mistake. So we're going to just rectify the mistake. We'll get it handled. Some of the trustees are upset about it, so we'll talk about it."

Hinojosa acknowledged that trustees must approve all raises of senior staff members. Then he broke this bit of news: Chief Academic Officer Robin Ryan can forget all about that $28,000 raise. For now.

"We're going to undo it," said Hinojosa. "Then if there's a majority of the board that wants to support our recommendation and Mr. Price's idea, then we'll bring it back."

More about the real reason for our visit to the Sheraton shortly.

​It's been around since forever -- not quite since the '70s, but close enough. But just yesterday, National Public Radio's Wade Goodwyn got around to profiling for All Things Considered none other than Mesquite ISD's KEOM-FM (88.5), our once-upon-a-time favorite blast from the past where, Goodwyn reports, the sound of high school students playing the soundtrack to their parents' lives "might make you say, 'What is this, bring your kid to work day?'"

For grins and the occasional gem, I used to listen with some regularity -- then again, I think my story on the station appeared in the paper version of Unfair Park well before the Internet, iPods and, um, reliable and affordable in-dash CD players? Maybe I'll jog the memory on the drive in with a listen to the station with the prettiest broadcast tower in town. But someone needs to do a study on the toll DJ'ing for KEOM has taken on generations of Mesquite school children:

The music is a cornucopia of the 1970s. Motown, rock, folk, disco -- everything from Karen Carpenter to Parliament Funkadelic, a mishmash that ironically would never have been played together on a single station back in the '70s. The student DJs say they absolutely would not listen to this stuff of their own volition. But being forced to day after day, Wilson describes its insidious effect on her musical tastes.

"Some of it's like, 'Oh, I know this song,' " Wilson says. "Then you're singing it, and pretty soon you like most of the stuff on here."

​I had big money on the outcome of last night's Kimball-A. Maceo Smith game at James Jones Field, but now what? Because this morning we got word that the showdown in Southwest Dallas was shutdown by the refs midway through the third quarter. Still not sure exactly what happened, except that a fight broke out involving players from both schools -- but "it did not involve all of the kids from both teams," Dallas Independent School District spokesman Jon Dahlander tells Unfair Park.

"We're still investigating to find out exactly what happened, how it started, who's responsible, disciplinary action, that kind of  thing," says Dahlander. "It was bad enough that it happened during the third quarter, and the officials finally decided, after they started kicking people out of the game, they finally decided, 'You know what? We're just gonna call it right now,' and they canceled the game and called it right there."

We'd heard that it got so heated that, at some point, gun play was involved. Dahlander says "absolutely not," but that, yeah, there was "another incident not involving students" down the street from the game. "Away from the field there was some kind of shooting at a car, and that car eventually came down and ran into the baseball field nearby, but it had nothing to do with the game or the kids." (Update: Dallas Police spokesman Kevin Janse sends words that DISD police called DPD after a man shot a pistol into the air "three to four times." The suspect wasn't caught.)

Oh, and Kimball led 6-0 when the game was called. No word on how this gets marked down in the record books. But, see, this is what happens when you play high school football on Thursday nights.

​Earlier this week, the recently formed Dallas Friends of Public Education PAC announced its endorsements for the Dallas Independent School District Board of Trustees: Dr. Kyle Renard (District 1), Bruce Parrott (District 3) and Bernadette Nutall (District 9 ... no, different District 9). The special election, which pits those candidates against these incumbents and comers, is November 3, of course -- thanks, in large part, to trustee Carla Ranger's forcing the issue with the Texas Attorney General's Office beginning late last year.

Ranger now has another concern with the election: the district's proposal, up for vote today, to spend $300,000 mailing its Dallas ISD Newsline good-newsletter to "all registered voters in each District." In the past, Ranger wrote last night on her blog, 10,000 copies of the newsletter were dispersed in each district, and she's concerned that the change in plan will violate the section of the Texas Election Code that prohibits "spending or authorizing the spending of public funds" for political advertising, since the newsletter prominently features a trustee in a two-page spread. Writes Ranger, "Trustees should not approve printing and mailing the Newsline in its present format and as proposed to voters only. The Dallas ISD Board should not appear to violate guidelines of the Ethics Commission and the Texas Education Code."

She doesn't say whether the fall newsletter, which would go out in October, features either Edwin Flores or Leigh Ann Ellis, the incumbents running for re-election. But maybe that's beside the point. Because, well, it is available online, and kids could just take copies home to the folks. And, as Ranger writes, why even bother with the thing in the first place when trustees acknowledge that, yeah, they still have stacks of the June newsletter sitting in the garage.

Once more, this photo comes from the Dallas Landmark Commission Nomination Form, which recommends giving Adamson High School historic landmark status

​Those trying to keep the Dallas Independent School District from razing W.H. Adamson High School have put out the word: Tomorrow's the last chance to speak up before the board votes on the resolution to quash historical designation. It's on the consent agenda for tomorrow, and Adamson alumni are marshalling forces, if the e-mails I've been sent throughout the day are any indication. Says one, which reminds that speakers for tomorrow need to sign up before 5 p.m. today, "We're hoping for a big crowd at tomorrow's board meeting." Hence the call to arms, which came with a handy-dandy history-of recounting the fight to this point. One Friend of Unfair Park writes by way of summary:

If DISD is successful, it will throw our application before the City Council. We are cautiously optimistic that the Landmark and Planning and Zoning Commissions will vote for Landmark status. DISD's opposition will then force our application in front of the City Council. To win at the Council, we must have a super majority on our side, a difficult thing to do.

That is why many, many graduates need to be present to show support for preserving the building. If we are successful tomorrow, Adamson's Landmark status is virtually assured. Landmark status means no one, not even DISD will be able to change any exterior feature without permission from the Landmark Commission. They can bring the interior up to current standards so students get their education in the best possible environment, but that is all.

All photos by Danny Hurley

Laura and George Bush and the 2007 American Idol, Jordin Sparks. Because you see this everyday. And, yes, a slide show is forthcoming.

In the end, Jordin Sparks had way more time with the microphone than a certain former president at Cowboys Stadium, where, this morning, George and Laura Bush were among those on-hand to unveil the North Texas Super Bowl XLV Host Committee's educational outreach initiative called Service Learning Adventures in North Texas -- or, SLANT 45 for short. Which will no doubt infuriate those Arlington ISD students denied the opportunity to say they were there when the American Idol  winner performed two songs, including "Battlefield," for the Bushes. Poor Jerry McCullough -- the AISD super just can't win.

Ah, but at least a few DISD students were there from Bowie, Turner, Kramer, Lipscomb, Withers and Foster elementary schools; so too were DISD Superintendent Michael Hinojosa and trustees Adam Medrano and Ron Price, sitting alongside Dallas City Council members Ron Natinsky and Pauline Medrano. Also on hand: Mayor Tom Leppert and City Manager Mary Suhm, espied reading the latest Dan Brown novel before kick-off. "Well, they told us to get here at 9:45, and I was the first one here," she told Unfair Park.

The former First Couple will serve as honorary chairs for the program, which officials say will serve 20,000 North Texas students who will perform 45,000 hours of community service between January 1, 2010, and the Super Bowl in '11. And so the couple spent most of their time on stage this morning sitting behind a parade of speakers that included host committee chair Roger Staubach, host committee member Daryl Johnston, some high-ranking suits from Bank of America and the National Football League and Gigi Antoni, president of Unfair Park downstairs neighbor Big Thought, which will oversee SLANT 45's operations.

Daryl Johnston will chair the SLANT 45 committee for the North Texas Super Bowl XLV Host Committee.

So what, exactly, is SLANT 45? Well, for now it's still a concept-in-progress -- but one that officials expect will have kids out planting gardens, erasing graffiti, painting parks and so forth all in the name of creating what Johnston called "the largest service-learning project in our nation's history." Richard Holt, president of Bank of America Dallas, said that kids might go out planting trees, during which they'll learn about everything from "cost ... to code compliance."

Johnston and Bill Lively, president and CEO of the host committee, both told Unfair Park after the event the program will take $25 to $30 million to implement. (Update: Tony Fay, spokesman for the host committee, says the two were referring "to the budget for the Host Committee to put on the game, which is 30 mil or so." He adds, "It's a real legwork campaign: organizing volunteers and getting them out into the community, tracking projects, etc. Kids can apply for small stipends (of 100 or less).") Right now, they've got $1 million -- $500,000 from Bank of America, $500,000 from attorney Ted Skokos and wife Shannon via their foundation. But Antoni says others are committed as well, naming, among others, the Wallace, Simmons, Meadow and Ford foundations, as well as the U.S. Department of Education.

After the jump, Johnston, Staubach and Lively talk more about the program's genesis. And a few word from the former president.

No doubt, the reason for the SMU Mustangs' rather exciting start to the season

George W. and Laura Bush are scheduled to speak at 11 this morning at Cowboys Stadium -- who knows, maybe the ex-president slept over? Of course, Arlington school kids won't be out there for the announcement concerning the North Texas Super Bowl XLV Host Committee's historic service-learning program, about which we'll learn more shortly, but Jordin Sparks, Roger Staubach, Bill Lively, Daryl Johnston, Troy Aikman, Emmitt Smith and Pat Summerall will be. (Oh, so this is why I agreed to go.) In the meantime, The Onion this morning catches Bush on the front porch of his Dallas home, feeling all reflective and stuff: "George W. Bush Chuckles To Self Upon Thinking About How He Was President Of The United States For Almost A Decade."

Courtesy Jon Dahlander/DISD

Dalton Sherman and Jenna Bush Hager, who interviewed the DISD phenom for a Today segment scheduled to air tomorrow.

​There's an awful nice Associated Press piece floating around about 11-year-old Dallas Environmental Science Academy sixth-grader Dalton Sherman, who, as you no doubt recall, became the Dallas Independent School District most famous motivational speaker after his back-to-school keynote in '08. There's a good reason for the follow-up a year later: As we noted last week, Sherman -- along with Jerry Jones's EnormoDome -- will be featured on tomorrow's Today, which brings Matt Lauer and Al Roker to Arlington and Jenna Bush Hager to teevee as an NBC correspondent.

In the AP piece, DISD spokesman Jon Dahlander says of the Sherman phenomenon: "It just keeps going and growing. The power of YouTube strikes again for Dalton Sherman. It couldn't happen to a nicer family or a greater kid." Which is why Dahlander sent to local media types this pic of the former First Twin and Sherman taken during a break in taping. He also sends this note: "This past summer, Kids Who Care Inc. of Fort Worth created a musical that was inspired by his speech called District XI: Believe in Me. Dalton and his brother Demosthenes are now members of the production's cast. The next performance is scheduled for Friday, Oct. 2, at the Scott Theatre in Fort Worth." When I was a DISD student, I appeared in The Pajama Game.

Galactic Butterfly

​As the Friends of Unfair Park can probably guess, there were two good reasons why we suffered through nearly four hours of a Dallas Independent School District board of trustees briefing today. The first: the fate of W. H. Adamson High School, whose historic main building district officials want to demolish. The second: a certain amendment to the public participation code that cuts down the amount of time any parent, student or wingnut has to address the board.

The meeting started at 11:30 this morning, and 40 folks took their seats inside the wood-paneled DISD board room at 3700 Ross. Eight had signed up in advance to address the trustees (save for Edwin Flores, who was out of town) and Superintendent Michael Hinojosa. Of the eight, three were members of the W. H. Adamson High School Alumni Association.

The gist of their message was that they've been very conservative in their opposition efforts thus far and still have hope to reach a compromise with the board. There is no reason Adamson should be torn down, they insist. It could be modernized while still preserving the American Classical Revival style main building, designed in 1915 by St. Louis architectutal legend William B. Ittner and tinkered with 23 years later by Dallas's Roscoe DeWitt. They want it designated as a historic landmark.

"In short, we've always felt we could find a compromise," said alumni association president John Ruiz. Ruiz acknowledged that Dallas isn't exactly famous for embracing historic preservation efforts, but insisted: "We feel that Adamson is worthy of being preserved."

After the public forum ended, Ruiz spoke to Unfair Park and said that he fully expects the DISD board to turn down their efforts to designate Adamson as a historic landmark. At that point, he said, he will turn up his opposition efforts. "There are other resources we have at our disposal that we have not put to use yet," Ruiz said. Ruiz hinted the secret weapons would include the avid support of other conservation groups, as well as increasing the visibility of their opposition efforts.

From the Dallas Landmark Commission Nomination Form, which recommends giving Adamson High School historic landmark status

​We have 508 Park Avenue; The Dallas Morning News, Adamson High School, which the Dallas Independent School District wants to demolish, save for the facade, to make way for a new facility next door by August 2012. A few weeks back, the paper made note of the DISD's tussles with the Adamson High School Alumni Association, which wants the 94-year-old structure afforded historic landmark status (and the attendant protection) and refuses to let the Oak Cliff school go without a fight. Notes one good Friend of Unfair Park in a missive recently sent our way, "Rather than continue to consider Landmark Status and allow the independent appraisal of the facility, the administration has apparently recommended that the board take steps to abandon a usable facility in a closed session without citizen input. We are concerned that this has been recommended without public input in an open session and vote on the proposal where alumni and others could be present."

So, then, this heads-up for all Adamson alum wanting to give the district the what-for: At its Thursday briefing, the DISD's board of trustees will discuss the Adamson adios. Matter of fact, here's the very document to be voted on at the September 23 board meeting: "Opposition to Proposed Historic Landmark Designation of W.H. Adamson High School." It reads as follows:

BE IT RESOLVED BY THE DALLAS INDEPENDENT SCHOOL DISTRICT BOARD OF TRUSTEES:

That any proposal to designate W.H. Adamson High School as a historic landmark by the City of Dallas or any entity acting on behalf of the City of Dallas is opposed and rejected by the Dallas Independent School District. The Board of Trustees finds that the criteria of policy CL (local) for granting historic designation have not been satisfied, including but not limited to, the fact that the proposed designation will substantially increase the cost of maintaining and improving the structure. The Trustees authorize the Superintendent of Schools or designee to take all action necessary to oppose, under all available grounds and before any forum, any efforts by the City of Dallas or any entity on behalf of the City of Dallas to designate W.H. Adamson as a historic landmark. This resolution shall take effect immediately upon its adoption.

The board has also, rather helpfully, included Adamson's Landmark Nomination Form, which contains a lengthy history of the school -- as well as the Landmark Committee Designation Task Force's recommendation that the school is "meritorious of designation."

Photos by Patrick Michels

Ron Kirk answers students' questions at Booker T. Washington High School after President Obama's speech this morning.

​While President Obama's speech to students met a lukewarm reception at some schools around Dallas-Fort Worth, former Dallas mayor and current U.S. Trade Representative Ron Kirk made sure the speech played to a full house this morning at Booker T. Washington High School for the Performing and Visual Arts.

At a podium in Booker T. Washington's Montgomery Arts Theatre, fronted by a sign reading "My Education, My Future," Kirk took questions from students in the audience and onstage behind him, before watching Obama's speech on a projection screen.

Kirk told students that in his first few months traveling the world and cutting trade deals, he's seen that "we're in a horribly competitive world," and that it'll take hard work for the U.S. to maintain its place as a world leader.

DISD Superintendent Michael Hinojosa looks on from the front row.

​A number of Cabinet officials fanned out across the country to host similar speech-watching soirees with students, but though Kirk was just one of only two who ventured too far from the East Coast.

"One of the dirty secrets in the U.S. is that the dropout rate is killing us," he said, nodding to DISD Superintendent Michael Hinojosa in the front row. "Half the kids in DISD won't graduate from high school," he said.

Patrick Michels

​A couple of weeks back, we mentioned that the Dallas Independent School District's board of trustees is considering putting a cap on how long speakers get to, ya know, speak at board meetings. Turns out -- surprise, surprise -- there's some dissent amongst the board regarding the proposal: At Thursday's briefing, the board will consider two versions -- one from board president Adam Medrano, and yet another from former president Jack Lowe.

Lowe, who lost the title of president in May, offers up this mathematical equation: If seven people or fewer want to speak to the board, they get three minutes each per topic; but if there are eight to 14 speakers, they'll be allocated two minutes each; 15 or more will get but 60 seconds to speak their mind. To which Medrano says, Unh-unh. His proposal allows for three minutes per speaker, no matter how many are lined up to address the board. Both men, however, are agreed on the other suggested restrictions -- including the one that calls for the ouster of "boisterous" audience members and the one that allows for the removal of media members who refuse to stay in their "designated area." Again, I blame Schutze for this.

​A few minutes ago, I spoke to Dallas Independent School District spokesman Jon Dahlander concerning his voice-mail message this morning. I wondered if today's decision, to let teachers and principals decide whether their classes could watch President Obama's speech to students on Tuesday, was a change from any kind of previous policy in place regarding the talk. As it turns out, Dahlander says, the speech "wasn't even on the radar till yesterday," when district officials began hearing that some folks were up in arms about the talk being broadcast in classrooms.

"I don't know if someone else received some kind of communique, but there was nothing till everyone started saying, 'Ya know, presidents shouldn't be allowed that platform,'" he tells Unfair Park. "And we were like, 'Oh, there's a speech?'"

Then again, Dahlander says, at least a few district officials knew something was up: For the last two weeks, the DISD's been prepping for a visit from former Dallas Mayor Ron Kirk, who, of course, is now the U.S. Trade Representative. Kirk will be at the Booker T. Washington High School for the Visual and Performing Arts on Tuesday "watching the speech with students," Dahlander says, and Kirk will "also speak with them as part of the initiative."

​So, the Plano Independent School District has opted out of President Obama's speech to students on Tuesday, but what says the Dallas ISD? I asked Jon Dahlander, district spokesman, via e-mail this morning about the district's plans. While I was out of the office, he left the following message on my voice mail: "The president's address will be available to all of our schools on our cable system and on C-SPAN, and principals and teachers have the option to show the speech to students. That's it."

Update available above.

Ron Price

​In a small meeting room at Dallas Independent School District headquarters this afternoon, Ron Price addressed reporters and a half-dozen cameras to explain why -- on the eve of the deadline to file for re-election as District 9 trustee -- he's ending his 12-year run on the school board.

"I want to spend time with my family," he said. "As you know, my son's been a little sick, and I've neglected them for a long time." While he said he made the decision last fall, minutes later, when asked why he waited until the last minute to make the announcement, Price suggested the choice wasn't his preference and that if left to his own devices he would have fought to continue at his post.

"I was trying to negotiate with my family," he said. But since they and his wife "ruled," he added, "I'll abide by what she says."

From the dust-up over his failed measure to rename two DISD schools after Sonia Sotomayor and Barack Obama to the embarrassing cheating scandal at Lang Middle School, Price has appeared in controversial headlines recently. Superintendent Michael Hinojosa -- who'd been sitting in the front row while Price gave his adieu -- took the microphone during the press conference and addressed the situation at Lang, which is in Price's district.

"We've concluded our investigation," Hinojosa said gravely about the incident that led to hundreds of students having to retake the TAKS tests and some being held back after they were led to believe they'd passed. "The report shows the students were not involved whatsoever in the cheating incident that occurred on campus."

The multiple erasures on stacks of standardized tests were made after the tests had been administered and were the result of the school's principal and testing coordinator, who both later resigned, failing to properly secure the room where the tests were kept. Both individuals have also failed to return calls from the district's Office for Professional Responsibility, according to the district.

​Late Monday, Brooks Love and I had a brief chat about Dallas Friends of Public Education, the political action committee set to make its bow this morning with a 10:30 press conference at Dallas Independent School District HQ. (DFPE's Web site made its debut yesterday.) You know Love, right? Former Dallas City Hall elections manager who went on to become the political consultant behind the likes of TrinityVote (the group against the toll road) and Citizens Against the Taxpayer-Owned Hotel (the group, um, against the convention center hotel)? That guy.

Love says his PAC pack includes a few teachers' union reps, some DISD alum, former state Rep. and school board member Harryette Ehrhardt and state Sen. John Carona, who, despite the press release's promise, will not be attending this morning's conference. Its treasurer is Hobie Hukill, a librarian at W.W. Samuel High School and executive board member of Alliance/AFT. This go-round, Love says he's not necessarily against anything. Instead, this PAC's for DISD school board trustee candidates who're for what the PAC's for. Which is?

"We're gonna be talking to candidates and say, 'These are the things we are interested in,'" says Love. "We'll ask, 'How would you not lose another $84 million? Will you let see people see the budget before taxpayers actually vote on it? Will you promise that when you're supposed to have an election, you'll have it? Will you, just maybe, impose true ethical standards -- like, not having trustees be able to make hundreds of thousands off the district. And will you make us feel good that you'll actually keep your promises to the stakeholders in the DISD?'"