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Dallas School Board Members And Superintendent Prep For Friday Showdown

Bill Zeeble
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KERA News
Bob Sanborn heads Children At Risk, the non-profit whose data shows DISD superintendent Mike Miles' reforms are working. Former Dallas teacher Stacey Hodge, who leads Stand For Children, also likes Miles.

On Friday at 4 p.m., Dallas school board members will meet to decide the future of superintendent Mike Miles.

On Thursday, the Texas Education Agency released a list of 400 low-income schools statewide that earned top honors for performance and progress. Of those, 25 were in Dallas, more than any other district. 

That news arrived a day before the Dallas school board once again debates Miles' future. Friday’s decision - eight days before an election that could reshape the board - may be the last chance for Miles' opponents to oust him. Observers say this time around, Miles really could be at risk.

Miles has survived an independent investigation, the departure of several top cabinet members, and a no-confidence vote by the school board last year. He apologized and promised improvements, all while continuing his reforms.  

Board member Joyce Foreman isn’t buying in. She says Miles is bad for the district.

‘We just have to look at the churn of the principals and teachers, the dissatisfaction of teachers,” Foreman says.

Credit Bill Zeeble / KERA News
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KERA News
Joyce Foreman, center, wanted Mike Miles fired before she ever held her trustee seat. This protest was held in September 2013 in front of the Dallas ISD administration building.

Under Miles, there have also been more Dallas schools with the lowest state ratings than ever before. After a scandal swept through the district's human resources department, Foreman and two other trustees called a meeting to question Miles.

It wasn’t scheduled until after the May 9th election, when more pro-Miles trustees might get elected.

So Foreman and the others sued. This week, they won.  

Friday’s meeting is the result.

“It’s been a tumultuous two-and-a-half years under Mr. Miles’ leadership,” says Rena Honea, who leads the largest teacher group in town. “Educators aren’t afraid of change, but it has to be something that they’re a part of and they understand and not something done to them.”  

Honea wanted Miles out a year ago. She argues his teacher evaluation plan threatens long-time instructors, morale is down, and the district’s in flux.

“Stability is needed but we’ve not had stability in the two-and-a-half years that Mr. Miles has been at the head of the district,” Honea says. “The teacher turnover, the employee turnover, the administrative staff turnover.”

A district insider tells KERA Miles really could be fired this time. Dallas Mayor Mike Rawlings, former Mayor Tom Leppert, and almost every sitting Dallas City Council member – and some former members - sent trustees a letter of support.

Two education non-profits are defending Miles. And the superintendent himself talked with KERA.

“I go to schools all the time,” Miles says. “I see teachers doing the hard work every day. I see kids learning. I see principals improving their abilities to lead schools. Change by its nature may be unstable, but there’s not been a lot of change of what has to happen in the classroom.”

Credit Bill Zeeble / KERA News
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KERA News
Dallas ISD Superintendent Mike Miles made himself available to media Thursday in order to defend his reforms. At Friday's special board meeting, there might be enough trustees to fire him.

Children At Risk, a statewide non-profit, says Miles’ changes are working.

 

“Some children who historically have not been doing well are doing significantly better than expected,” says Bob Sanborn, the group's CEO.

He says a few years ago, only one low-income Dallas elementary school earned his organization’s Gold Ribbon. This year, that’s up to 24, the most of any district in Texas. Sanborn says more kids are learning.

“They are improving in districts where there are superintendents who are reformers” Sanborn says. “They’re not caretakers. They’re being proactive. They’re showing leadership. They’re not always popular, but we’re seeing significant improvement among some of the children we really want to see a positive future for.”

Sanborn knows the superintendent’s job is at stake Friday. For education to get better, Sanborn says schools need reform, and districts need reformers like Miles. 

Read the letter that Dallas city officials sent to Dallas school officials

Dallas City Officials Sign Letter of Support for Mike Miles by KERANews

Bill Zeeble has been a full-time reporter at KERA since 1992, covering everything from medicine to the Mavericks and education to environmental issues.