Dallas school district committed “systemic” Social Security fraud
posted at 12:30 pm on November 14, 2008 by Ed Morrissey
Over a period of several years, a Dallas school district fraudulently issued Social Security numbers in order to employ bilingual teachers. Despite previous warnings, the DISD continued this practice until a tipster alerted investigators to the practice (via Michelle):
Years after being advised by a state agency to stop, the Dallas Independent School District continued to provide foreign citizens with fake Social Security numbers to get them on the payroll quickly.
Some of the numbers were real Social Security numbers already assigned to people elsewhere. And in some cases, the state’s educator certification office unknowingly used the bogus numbers to run criminal background checks on the new hires, most of whom were brought in to teach bilingual classes.
The practice was described in an internal report issued in September by the district’s investigative office, which looked into the matter after receiving a tip. The report said the Texas Education Agency learned of the fake numbers in 2004 and told DISD then that the practice “was illegal.”
It’s unclear how long DISD had been issuing the phony numbers, and district officials didn’t know Thursday how many had been given out. But the investigative report and interviews with DISD employees indicate the practice went on for several years before it was discontinued this past summer.
First, I love the headline on this article: “Dallas ISD faulted for using fake Social Security numbers”. Er, faulted? Social Security fraud is a felony, not a policy disagreement. For that matter, why didn’t the Texas Education Agency report the practice to law enforcement? Their silence arguably makes them accessories to the crime.
The fraud occurred in DISD’s “alternative certification system”, a process by which schools can bypass Texas certification requirements for specific needs. One of those needs is apparently bilingual education. Instead of hiring qualified teachers with American citizenship or legitimate residency, DISD recruited people from Mexico and encouraged them to work illegally in Dallas. Had they wanted them to work legally, they wouldn’t have created a process for falsifying Social Security numbers.
Is teaching a job Americans won’t do? Are there no bilingual educators in the US? Or was DISD just unwilling to pay a competitive rate for those instructors and conspired to get cheaper labor through fraud?
Faulted, indeed. The US Attorney’s office should be preparing indictments for the DISD managers who ran this program and the instructors who participated in it.
Addendum: This isn’t the first fraud involving DISD, either. And this should have been apparent two years ago, when the local CBS affiliate discovered that some of DISD’s “bilingual” educators didn’t speak English.
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Si, se puede!
Kid from Brooklyn on November 14, 2008 at 12:33 PM
/faceplam
What the hell is wrong with our Government? It won’t even obey its own laws.
Tacitus_SGL on November 14, 2008 at 12:33 PM
Dallas is an old Texican word for “corrupt”
But you can’t take my word for it – I’m from Fort Worth…
Whenever someone is asked (from either city) is asked if Dallas and Fort Worth would ever combine – the reply is “Arlington was built for a reason!”
kybowexar on November 14, 2008 at 12:33 PM
Either have rules, or have anarchy. Which do we want?
DL13 on November 14, 2008 at 12:34 PM
Everybody around Dallas knows that the DISD is full of crooks and completely incompetent peopel. They hire illegals, have a budget deficit of millions that then causes them to lay off over 600 REAL TEACHERS!! They lay off the ones here legally but had fraudulently hired illegal immigrants… What a mess!!
Everyone around the metroplex thinks they are a complete joke. We hang our head in shame.
sprice75019 on November 14, 2008 at 12:38 PM
I live in Denton about 35 miles from the DFW and the local radio stations are absolutely tearing this up. The superintendent is already in hot water for a massive budget shortfall and a poor education rating. DISD is going down hard.
knat on November 14, 2008 at 12:38 PM
Ed is right that this is not the first corruption. This is the same school district roof material was done so bad and cheap you could remove it with your foot.
When it was found out and indictments started flying, one city councilman said that all this might hinder minority businesses from bidding!
Hilarious!
kybowexar on November 14, 2008 at 12:39 PM
Investigate and prosecute to the fullest extent of the law.
Princeps on November 14, 2008 at 12:40 PM
Some people need to spend time behind bars.
rbj on November 14, 2008 at 12:41 PM
And people are not going to Jail for this?
Knowingly hireing an illegal and abetting their staying here is a Felony.
Identity theft is a Felony.
Conspiricy (which this is) is a Felony.
Any comment from the Texas LEGAL authorities??????
/crickets….
Romeo13 on November 14, 2008 at 12:41 PM
If I were a private employer and did this…ICE, the SS Administration, the FBI, and DoJ would be all over me and I’d be facing a hefty fine, and hard time, and my business would be a government seized asset….
But, gee whiz, since it is a school district in a heavily Democrat town, guess these fake “but accurate” SSAN’s handed out were merely an “understandable oversight?”
Looking for federal prosecutors handing out indictments, ICE rounding up and immediately deporting ALL the illegal teachers, and the Dallas school district being taken over until everything is made right….and the scoundrels brought to justice…but, not holding my breath.
coldwarrior on November 14, 2008 at 12:41 PM
Public schools. Whaddya expect?
Akzed on November 14, 2008 at 12:43 PM
Also here is the latest on the DID budget deficit – now only $75 million instead of $84 million. Of course it they deficit was a surprise to all…
http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/news/city/dallas/stories/110708dnmetdisdboard.3c51fa3.html
“District administrators had projected a budget deficit for this fiscal year of $84 million. They now say that amount has been whittled down to about $75 million for various reasons, including unexpected state and local revenues.”
And last years is now lower too..
“Last year’s budget deficit also is lower than projected. It has dropped from $64 million to about $52 million, district officials said. The amount was lowered by various factors, including an additional $7 million in state aid and a $1.6 million reduction in workers compensation expenses. The district used money in its reserve fund to make up for last year’s deficit.”
ChuckTX on November 14, 2008 at 12:44 PM
This does not surprise me, first bi-lingual education is proven not to be effective, immersion works the best. But the unions are adamant about this foolish subject.
Second…this should be a federal crime, maybe even a RICO, systematically by passing a federal mandate…by someone who is “educated”. These are three guys in front of Home Depot.
Throw their *sses in jail.
right2bright on November 14, 2008 at 12:45 PM
Any Texans wanna comment on what the schools are doing?
I will make a suggestion… Start running for the School Board in your State and get these REJECTS out of your schools!!!!
upinak on November 14, 2008 at 12:46 PM
Just teaching the kids that American teachers won’t teach…
Fletch54 on November 14, 2008 at 12:48 PM
Ah.
More stellar performance from our tax payer funded, gub’mint school monopolies.
locomotivebreath1901 on November 14, 2008 at 12:48 PM
Is it time to play “Name That Party”?
Techie on November 14, 2008 at 12:49 PM
Teaching is a job some Americans won’t do because of the corrupt educational establishment.
Bugler on November 14, 2008 at 12:50 PM
I faced a $5,000 fine because two of my workers had the same Hispanic name. Different social security numbers (legal ones), but they had the same address and name…so they deemed that as being “illegal”. They just decided on the spot that it was illegal…I got out of it, but with an attorney.
And they let me know that if it was something I did and was aware of it, the fine wasn’t the worst of it.
right2bright on November 14, 2008 at 12:50 PM
Techie – it will be a short game.
Democrats and Dallas – not just two words that begin with a “D”
kybowexar on November 14, 2008 at 12:51 PM
How many “Obama buttons” were found in their file cabinets…
right2bright on November 14, 2008 at 12:51 PM
Wow, do you have any idea how may checks you have to go through to work as a secretary in Virginia Beach Public Schools? This is amazing that they would discount child safety like this.
Cindy Munford on November 14, 2008 at 12:51 PM
First of all, they committed a felony and should be held accountable.
Secondly, why the hell are we teaching kids to speak Spanish when English is our language? If there are students that only speak Spanish then they need to enroll in a class to be taught English!
I’m tired of “pressing 1 for English” speak our language or leave!
Liberty or Death on November 14, 2008 at 12:56 PM
When did you get so darned judgmental?
You know, if somebody speaks Spanish AND Portuguese, they’re still bilingual.
Racist.
pffffffft.
Jazz Shaw on November 14, 2008 at 12:56 PM
This is just the tip of the iceberg with DISD.
As a Fort Worth resident I avoid crossing the Dallas county line unless absolutely necessary. The fewer of my sales tax dollars that go into their coffers the better.
Limerick on November 14, 2008 at 12:57 PM
someone needs a little JAIL TIME here!
SDarchitect on November 14, 2008 at 12:58 PM
Limerick – I am glad to hear you live in Fort Worth.
It is not a bad place – and one visit to Dallas will make you so happy to be back home.
I’ve been out of Texas for a long, long nine years, but still remember hearing about the amazingly dumb stunts of DISD and John Wiley Price!
(I was shocked to hear he is still at it. He was part of that “black hole” baloney a few months ago.)
kybowexar on November 14, 2008 at 1:02 PM
These will probably not go to jail–after 33 years in public education I have never seen anyone actually go to jail unless child abuse of some kind is involved. But, they most probably will lose their jobs only to be replaced by more of the same. They will then go on to get other jobs in other states or areas. Most teachers I know are pretty hard working and caring and this gives them all a bad name. Yet they never agitate to get rid of these kinds of people and poor or under-performing teachers. Perhaps they are too afraid to challenge the status quo.
jeanie on November 14, 2008 at 1:07 PM
Out of Texas? Well, you might have left Texas but I bet Texas hasn’t left you. Spread the word! :)
Limerick on November 14, 2008 at 1:08 PM
I live in Dallas and this story isn’t even the HALF of it. The Superintendent, Mr. HINOJOSA “miscalculated” the numbers on the budget and put the school district in a $80 million dollar hole!! They layed-off almost half the teachers and here comes the best part – THEY KEPT ALL THE BILINGUAL ONES!! This city is being overrun by illegals. They are all going ape sh*t because the City of Dallas decided not to change a street name to Caesar Chavez. The whole city is corrupt and going to hell FAST!
cadds182 on November 14, 2008 at 1:09 PM
No, you know once a Texan always a Texan.
My wife frequently laments that you can take the boy out of Texas, but you can never take Texas out of the boy.
To which I always respond “Why would you want to?”
kybowexar on November 14, 2008 at 1:09 PM
cadds182 on November 14, 2008 at 1:09 PM
Well somebody has to teach those students to speak Spanish muy bein.
kybowexar on November 14, 2008 at 1:10 PM
Also Cadds – my sympathy for your living in Dallas.
kybowexar on November 14, 2008 at 1:11 PM
Well, heck. I now know where to go to get some sympathetic public servant to sign off on my 100 hours. I don’t have to work and they’ll get to pocket $4000 for their school.
Same sort of mindset, folks.
Anyone who will actually work 100 hours is a suckah!
Joan of Argghh on November 14, 2008 at 1:12 PM
It’s harder to get a password for Hot Air than it is to get a Social Security number in Dallas.
patriette on November 14, 2008 at 1:13 PM
To quote Kyle’s mom — “What what what?”
This is insane. Who is in jail for this right now? Today?
First, they kill Kennedy. Then they sign Pacman Jones. Now this. I hope you are proud of yourselves, Dallas!
grdred944 on November 14, 2008 at 1:14 PM
Traders Village in Grand Prairie (DA county). You can be anyone you want for an Andrew Jackson. DLs, SSNs, you can probably even change your sex, if you were so inclined.
Limerick on November 14, 2008 at 1:16 PM
KYBOWEXAR….I think you mean someone has to teach them ENGLISH. Thanks for the sympathy.
cadds182 on November 14, 2008 at 1:17 PM
It is a good time for conservatives to start exposing these types of things on a large scale. There is no need to involve legislators. Republicans obviously will bear the brunt if they appear on television segment related to immigration. Just let a farmer from Tennessee debate a grower from California. Tennessee uses zero illegal labor, California is well California. But the stark difference between methods would be ridiculous.
Theworldisnotenough on November 14, 2008 at 1:18 PM
They’re ignorant as well because Chavez was against illegal immigration.
thomasaur on November 14, 2008 at 1:19 PM
There is no such place as Dallas.
Johan Klaus on November 14, 2008 at 1:20 PM
No, I was being ironic and funny – since Raza has had its sights on Texas for a long time. Dallas they can have (and Austin too) but the rest of it is not going quietly.
There are a few Hispanics in the neighborhood, and it is just good public policy to insure that they speak their native language correctly – Spanish.
–/sarc off (since my point was lost last time)
kybowexar on November 14, 2008 at 1:21 PM
There is no such place as Dallas.
Johan Klaus on November 14, 2008 at 1:20 PM
Dang, are you from Fort Worth too? (laugh)
If only that were so….
kybowexar on November 14, 2008 at 1:22 PM
Wow. We have a whole island full of American-citizen Spanish-speaking teachers who (usually) are also fairly fluent in English. It’s called Puerto Rico. As a Florida resident, I can tell you that teachers (and nurses, and cops) have been bailing out of the island in huge numbers ever since the territorial government failed to meet payroll a few years back.
Dallas couldn’t recruit a few of them?
Oh right… wrong kind of Spanish. Nevermind….
Anton on November 14, 2008 at 1:23 PM
Unacceptable! Let their heads roll. Everyone knowledgeable should be fired, every illegal immigrant should be shipped back to their country of origin. All assets accumulated illegally by illegal immigrants should be ceased by the state and auctioned to pay for the cost to ship these people back to their home countries.
mindhacker on November 14, 2008 at 1:23 PM
DISD – in the red from admins using debit cards for ipods and gifts and now we have SS card fruad for “bilingual” teachers that can’t speak english. Dallas, my town…is being over run…HELP!!!! ~B
Brian on November 14, 2008 at 1:24 PM
SOMEBODY CALL ICE!!!!…….lol
cadds182 on November 14, 2008 at 1:26 PM
I work at the Houston Independent School District(HISD) and there are many employees who only speak Spanish. Thankfully a lot of them are kitchen or custodial workers with no teaching responsibilities, but I wouldn’t be surprised at all if they were citizens.
It’s also disturbing to me that a bunch of schools are essentially bilingual. The signs are all in both English and Spanish and even morning announcements are done in both languages.
Doughboy on November 14, 2008 at 1:28 PM
No, I am from the Shiner area. But, every time someone tells me that they are from Dallas and I ask them from which part, they say Farmers Branch or Mesquite or Grand Prarie, ect..
Johan Klaus on November 14, 2008 at 1:31 PM
Uh-yeah. Teaching basically sucks. I teach in a small rural ND school. I am in heaven compared to my friend who teaches in Boston.
The wasting of $$ occurs at every level, in every school district. I think fraud of all kinds occurs everywhere. I see things in my school that are a disgusting waste of taxpayer funds.
Salaries, thanks to the teacher’s union, basically suck. Although, I have to add that I only get paid for working 180days. So that in itself is fine with me. The problem I have-I get paid as an overqualified HS science teacher the same amount as a PE teacher with the same years in.
I would make 5X the money with my degree right now in the oil fields compared to that PE teacher right now. (Why I don’t now is bcs I also own & run a ranch).
So school districts need to pay people what they’re worth.They don’t.
Bilingual educators are hard to find. So are science & math, special ed, etc.
We need incentive pay. Some places have it.You get what you pay (or not) for.
Look what you get when the govt runs things.
Badger40 on November 14, 2008 at 1:32 PM
Doughboy on November 14, 2008 at 1:28 PM
Most of the Hispanics I grew up with wanted to speak English perfectly. Most of their parents (who were either born in Mexico or naturalized citizen) were almost militant about their kids learning the language.
They’d have the food, culture, and all that down -but as far as the language it was English – all the time and done correctly.
Most of those kids are now doctors, lawyers, and whatever they wanted to be – that’s the goal. To become productive citizens of society.
kybowexar on November 14, 2008 at 1:32 PM
They just need William Ayres to correct their education system. Come on Bill, what say you?
/spits
Kevin in Washington State on November 14, 2008 at 1:33 PM
I have lived in the Dallas area all my life. I went to DISD schools.
That district has been in trouble since the seventies, when it was in effect taken over by the late Judge Barefoot Sanders to implement desegregation by bus. Everyone who didn’t want their kids bussed halfway across town moved to the surrounding districts and never looked back. It’s been all downhill for the district ever since.
The counties around Dallas have grown in population and wealth, and now the only reason to go into the city is the state fair once per year.
My wife is a schoolteacher and after she got her certificate, DISD recruited her hard. However, they would not tell potential teachers where they would be assigned. She turned them down and now teaches in our little suburban district.
Kafir on November 14, 2008 at 1:33 PM
(Laugh) Sorry, I missed the joke. I explain to people that it is like folks in Chicago and Illinois – if you ask were they are from. A person from Chicago says “Chicago”, from anywhere in Illinois – it’s “Illinois”.
Same with Dallas and Texas. If you ask me were I’m from – it’s Texas. No Dallasite every admits they are from anywhere but Dallas.
kybowexar on November 14, 2008 at 1:35 PM
This is a good example of why the conservative movement must take back government at the local level. Liberal dominance in education has had a serious negative effect on our nation. We have a large middle of the electorate that is ignorant of our political, social, economic history. Obama ran on Carter era policies and promised impossible tax cuts and won. There are too many ignorant people and we conservatives will pay the price at the polls.
Theworldisnotenough on November 14, 2008 at 1:39 PM
Ditto. I live in Collin County and only go to Dallas County whenever necessary. It’s bad enough that I work here.
Harpoon on November 14, 2008 at 1:39 PM
Rhetorical, right?
whitetop on November 14, 2008 at 1:46 PM
Kafir on November 14, 2008 at 1:33 PM
Kudos on your wife deciding to teach elsewhere. My wife teaches at a Christian school here in Indiana. Even as fairly tame as the public schools here are, we’d both rather she not teach at a public school
I could not even begin to imagine her at a Dallas school. (Though I know, someone needs to…)
kybowexar on November 14, 2008 at 1:47 PM
I would have to be.
kybowexar on November 14, 2008 at 1:48 PM
I = It
Dang, why doesn’t someone explain to me about preview….(laugh)
kybowexar on November 14, 2008 at 1:48 PM
And we can expect indictments when?
This will never stop (and God knows it’s probably going on elsewhere), until someone gets put in the slammer for it.
linlithgow on November 14, 2008 at 1:56 PM
I have a buddy that works for ICE, I sent this along to him as a “Tip” :)
rgranger on November 14, 2008 at 2:03 PM
I was at the office at my kids’ school the other day. There is a poster on the bulletin board offering low cost / free health insurance for school children provided by the state. It says proof of residence is required, birth certificate … blah .. blah … but then at the bottom it says that if the child was born outside of the US, no paperwork is required.
So basically, if you were born here you have to qualify. If you weren’t born here, you automatically qualify. I don’t see how they can get away with that.
crosspatch on November 14, 2008 at 2:13 PM
DISD has been dysfunctional for more than a decade now, with a virtual musical chairs of superintendents and factions on the school board each championing their own pet causes. It also has problems backing its teachers up in part because of those divisions — you never know which way the wind’s going to blow after the May board elections — which would explain why biligual educators who are actually U.S. citizens might want to work for other North Texas school districts and why DISD ended up running a Social Security fraud mill out of their school business office.
jon1979 on November 14, 2008 at 2:20 PM
Notifying ICE won’t accomplish anything. They’ve suspended enforcing our immigration laws, on the order of Bush, so that Obama’s illegal alien auntie (currently living in taxpayer-subsidized housing in Boston) won’t be deported — despite 4 years of defying an order of deportation from the court that denied her asylum petition.
Laws in this country now are only enforced against some of us.
And hey, what’s wrong with Texas taxpayers having their tax dollars used to pay Mexican teachers to teach Mexican children in Spanish? It’s their country, isn’t it? — Well maybe not yet, but at the rate we’re going, it soon will be.
AZCoyote on November 14, 2008 at 2:23 PM
AZCoyote on November 14, 2008 at 2:23 PM
You know, it is all fun and games until somebody loses a country!
kybowexar on November 14, 2008 at 2:29 PM
Same as “in state tuition” sadly. People need to look at Kalifornia’s budget deficit and wake the hell up!
brtex on November 14, 2008 at 2:31 PM
And the reason somebody’s a** hasn’t been thrown in jail is?????????????
Star20 on November 14, 2008 at 2:42 PM
Put them in jail for a long time. Then CLOSE THE F*CKING BORDER!
marklmail on November 14, 2008 at 2:44 PM
Ding Ding Ding – I wondered how long it would take before an actual statement about the border being closed would surface. (laugh)
kybowexar on November 14, 2008 at 2:49 PM
They should lose all public funding..and all administrators fired. This is unbelievable. I know a ton of teachers who are looking for good jobs.
becki51758 on November 14, 2008 at 2:51 PM
P.S. Is George Bush secretly a Liberal who wants to undermine the USA? Seriously.
marklmail on November 14, 2008 at 3:15 PM
Lived in Tarrant county for 20 years. I have not seen a year where DISD did not make the Dallas Morning News at some point for some fraud, conversion, loss, mismanagement, or lack of performance on the part of that school district.
Dr. Dog on November 14, 2008 at 3:17 PM
I am a retired teacher. There is not enough money that would entice me to teach in Dallas. Dallas is surrounded by good school districts that do not have the problems that Dallas has. They are run by administrators and principals that are not bound to affirmative action and community organizing mentality. Discipline in the schools is maintained with zero tolerance rules for gang activity and disruptive behaviors. The schools are clean and clear of graffiti. Teachers are formally evaluated annually to insure that they are teaching in a professional and effective manner. Certification of teachers is taken seriously.
What goes on in DISD never surprises me. They have little in common with the schools that surround them. Disapline is a joke and dffective teaching is just not possible.Its affirmative action and community organizing at its worse, and I fear what we have to look forward to on a national scale.
DISD laying off hundreds of teachers to make up for the financial incompetence of the administrators doesn’t surprise me. It doesn’t surprise me that there were no administrators being laid off. A few administrators would not have been missed. Firing teachers means increases in class size for those that are left. The result is not getting more for the dollar. As a rule of thumb, elementary classrooms with more than 18 students have an increase in discipline that doubles with each student above that number. For high school it is each student above 25. It does not take a lot of additional students to reduce the amount of teaching possible, even with the best teachers, to an unacceptable level or as we often say, until we are babysitting. That is with good students. Consider DISD where misbehaviors and gang activity is often ignored and the administrators are incompetent. It was not good to start with, and now it will be worse.
As for the Texas Education Administration getting involved; don’t count on it. It is no better than DISD, with unqualified people in positions that they have no experience in. Many have not been in a classroom since they graduated from high school, but they think their liberal ideas are better than what works. If one of them does something that normally would result in firing, they are reassigned as a principal in a good school district. I endured one of those principals for a year. At the end he was just showing up and sitting behind his desk. The next year he was quietly reassigned to another school as an assistant principal where he was not going to do any harm. Had he been a teacher, he would not have finished he school year.
Franklyn on November 14, 2008 at 3:54 PM
How do I go about making a “Citizen’s Arrest”?
PappaMac on November 14, 2008 at 4:04 PM
All those people who’ve been victimized by identity theft can rest assured that your government is ON YOUR SIDE.
kurtzz3 on November 14, 2008 at 4:24 PM
And people should be going to jail!
Exactly. Off to jail with them too!
taznar on November 14, 2008 at 5:32 PM
So, are 50 or 75 Dallas school district bureaucrat nitwits going to jail for identity theft and social security fraud?
How much fun would that be?
Jaibones on November 14, 2008 at 8:29 PM
Upinak, if only! Dallas (I live here) has been completely overrun by identity politics. The schools are horrible. Here is the make up:
Ethnicity Number of Students Percent
African American 46,948 29.6%
Hispanic 101,997 64.2%
White 8,004 5.0%
Native American 379 0.2%
Asian/Pacific Islander 1,486 0.9%
Note that there are more than 5% white people in Dallas. No one that can scrape together the dough for private school will send their kids to that hellhole.
These illegal teachers are teaching to illegal students and no one cares.
We just re-elected a completely incompetent woman as sheriff again because she had a “D” after her Hispanic last name. The man running against her was vastly superior and backed by all of law enforcement.
I was just involved in a battle to rename the key street in a multi-billion dollar new riverfront developement. All of the white people wanted it to be named Riverfront Blvd (get it? something to do with the river project? something inclusive to all of Dallas’ citizens) All the hispanics wanted it to be Cesar Chavez Blvd. I am a property owner there and thankfully we dodged the bullet.
When people like myself complain on HotAir about immigration it isn’t just whining. Life is slowly becoming unbearable here and it is coming to a city near you soon. Although, not probably for you personally since you are in Alaska you lucky dog!
mrsmwp on November 14, 2008 at 9:22 PM
When we left the Dallas area for Austin ten years ago, DISD was in turmoil with the Hispanic and black communities at each other’s throats over the superintendent’s position, each side demanding that the position be filled with someone from their group (actual qualifications seemingly a secondary concern). There was even a school board meeting where the self-styled New Black Panthers showed up with guns in hand and hung out at the back of the room (just where would whites be able to get away with that?). Eventually a Hispanic woman was found who ended up being booted out after a scandal involving an extremely expensive remodeling of her office. A Centex employee told me at the time that they were not building any more neighborhoods in the DISD area because of the district’s abysmal reputation and were only building in the suburbs with schools that would attract buyers.
My daughter attended a TAG (talented and gifted) school in the Garland ISD (a Dallas suburb) which was a fabulous school. The district was a paragon of efficiency compared to DISD and we were very happy with our daughter’s educational experience there. I know a lot of people in the Dallas area make fun of Garland but we were impressed with how well-run the city and the district were. Garland is the largest school district in the area after Dallas and has a large minority population as well but they seemed to be able to figure out how to run things successfully without all the ridiculous drama.
inmypajamas on November 14, 2008 at 9:49 PM
Greg Abbot, please pick up a white courtesy phone, paging AG Greg Abbot…
TexasDan on November 14, 2008 at 11:35 PM
Well, you see, we have to hire people illegally in order to educate the children of… people here illegally.
Tzetzes on November 15, 2008 at 12:43 AM
Wow, so many Texans! I work in dowtown Dallas, but live in one of the suburbs. No way my kids would go to a DISD school, they’re a joke and getting dangerous. We moved out of Dallas because even the outskirts of the city were getting bad.
theotherKate on November 15, 2008 at 1:08 AM
Hon, I couldn’t even get a job in NYC as an English teacher at one time cuz, poor dumb ol’ me, I am not bilingual. But, but, but, I have experience as an English teacher. Doesn’t matter. You need to be bilingual. Makes me wonder who they hired ultimately.
Hey, teaching is another job lots of Americans won’t do. Folks are leaving in droves cuz the kids are brats who want grades without doing the work, plus they cuss, threaten, fight, and beat up teachers. Not enough money to pay for that kind of crap.
SilentWatcher on November 15, 2008 at 10:02 AM