Charter Schools

Here's Audio of Deion Sanders Admitting That He Choked Prime Prep's COO

State regulators have revoked the charter of Prime Prep Academy, Deion Sanders' troubled DFW charter school, over problems with its school-lunch program. Barring a successful hail mary from the school, Sanders' days as a wannabe public educator are over, and it was byzantine federal grant rules that ... More >>

Texas Has Revoked the Charter of Prime Prep, the Public School Founded by Deion Sanders

It was two and a half years ago that we, along with every other media outlet in town, started telling you about Deion Sanders' disastrous plan to open a charter school with campuses in Oak Cliff and Forth Worth. That disastrous plan eventually became a disastrous reality called Prime Prep Academy, t ... More >>

Texans Can Academies Hits the Charter-School Jackpot, Picking Up an Old Wilmer-Hutchins School Cheaply

There's a reason you find so many charter schools in decrepit strip centers and old Walmarts. Decent, school-appropriate real estate is hard to come by. When it is available, it's expensive, and charter operators, who don't get facilities funding from the state like public schools do, are often forc ... More >>

The Texas Education Agency Is Preparing to Close an Azle Charter School for Foster Kids

The way that Azleway Charter School Superintendent Steve Lenz describes it, his students wouldn't last long at a regular old public school. Even the ones that aren't hospitalized or in special ed are often several grades behind where they should be. They also tend to move a lot. "Some of our studen ... More >>

What Made Mayor Mike Rawlings Blow His Top? The Mystery.

The mayor's pissed-off walk-out last week from a meeting with Latino leaders to discuss his school takeover plan is, if anything, more of a mystery, now that a recording of the meeting is circulating. He said last week he walked out because the meeting was being hijacked and he wanted to de-escalate ... More >>

Deion Sanders Demanded a Raise, Threatened to Break Prime Prep CEO's Neck (Audio NSFW)

Throughout the public collapse of Prime Prep Academy, the charter school co-founded by Deion Sanders, the former Cowboy star has been accused of bullying and even attacking school employees who failed to cow to his demands for more power and more money. Those allegations have largely been hard to ... More >>

Deion's Family Playbook, Deion Sanders' Reality Show, Will Debut in March

If you can't get enough of Deion Sanders talking sports on ESPN or Deion Sanders being accused of assaults in the news, soon you can turn to the Oprah Winfrey Network and see Deion Sanders from a pleasant, uplifting human-interest angle. The network will air a series documenting his life starting i ... More >>

TEA Is More Aggressively Closing Charter Schools, but Is It Targeting the Right Ones?

No one wants to give kids a crappy education with taxpayer dollars, but Texas regulators are now cracking down on a few charter schools that aren't actually the most embarrassing ones in the state. In an announcement this month, the Texas Education Agency called out six charter schools that it pl ... More >>

Prime Prep Academy's Co-Founder Resigned Today Under Pressure from Deion Sanders

In last year's cover story on Deion Sanders' Prime Prep Academy, we described D.L. Wallace as little more than a snake-oil salesman. Last month, just before Sanders was briefly fired, he called his business partner a "snake." Whatever the preferred moniker, the Prime Prep co-founder and CEO is gone ... More >>

The News Says Parents Are Giving Up on This Dallas School, But Parents Say Otherwise

Mr. Martinez knew it was coming, was bracing for it, was already crafting how he might respond in the office and the halls and the parking lot at morning drop-off. Still, when it hit on Sunday, it had to hurt. Martinez -- first name Hector, not that it gets used much at school -- is the principal a ... More >>

Andre Agassi is Inaugurating His Southern Dallas Charter School on Wednesday

KIPP Destiny Elementary opened with little fanfare this August in a converted Mervyn's storefront across from Southwest Center Mall in Red Bird. The national charter school network, which already operates the KIPP Truth Academy middle school a few miles away, is saving that for Wednesday. That's wh ... More >>

Deion Sanders Says His Charter School's Co-Founder is a "Snake" Who Can't Be Trusted

Deion Sanders has responded to allegations that he assaulted the chief financial officer of his charter school in what has become typical Prime Time fashion -- by maligning his adversary and stressing his heroic, unwavering commitment to children. That's the line he took when he accused his then-wif ... More >>

Deion Sanders and His Girlfriend Are Making a Reality Show for OWN about His Charter School

One way or the other, it seems, the folks behind Prime Prep Academy, Deion Sanders' taxpayer-funded charter school, are going to make some money off it. It's just a matter of how -- and how much. The "how" is a little clearer today, after Oprah Winfrey's cable network announced plans to air a real ... More >>

Dallas ISD Magnets Are Once Again Among the Washington Post's List of Top Public Schools

It's tradition by now. Every year, Washington Post columnist Jay Mathews crunches the numbers and comes up with a list of the country's top public schools, and every year Dallas ISD's cohabitating School of Science and Engineering and TAG Magnet are near the top. This year is no different. Mathews ... More >>

Senator Dan Patrick's Charter School Love Bill Leaves Public Schools Holding the Empty Bag

Tale of two dailies today, I guess. Our own Dallas daily, the Morning News, takes a kind of hey-why-not approach to a bill introduced by Houston GOP state Senator Dan Patrick that would divert more money from state funding for public schools to charters. The Austin American Statesman, meanwhile, giv ... More >>

Watch Deion Sanders' Entire Football Team Halt Traffic to Confront a WFAA Camerman

WFAA's Brett Shipp went out to the football practice yesterday of Prime Prep Academy, the charter school co-founded by former Cowboy Deion Sanders. What happened was dangerous, awkward, embarrassing, and yet another example of why Sanders shouldn't have a school, and why this state should spend a fe ... More >>

Prime Prep Academy is Open, But it Still Doesn't Have the City Permits it Needs

Prime Prep Academy opened the doors of its Oak Cliff campus on Monday as promised. Students went to class, teachers taught, Deion Sanders tweeted inane things. Prime Time delivers again. There are, however, some unresolved issues, and not just with the athletic program, which has been banned from ... More >>

Deion Sanders' Prime Prep High School Football Appears More Like Fantasy Football

In the months following Prime Prep Academy's February town hall information sessions, Deion Sanders and his business partner, D.L. Wallace, have been publicly silent about almost every aspect of their charter school, Prime Prep Academy, with campuses in Dallas (grades 6-12) and Fort Worth (K-5). I ... More >>

Texas Charter Schools, Parents Sue State Over Facilities Funding

Dana Allen, a Lakewood parent, is thrilled with the education her 5-year-old receives at Lindsley Park charter school, but is displeased that the school has no gym, no cafeteria, no library and no computer lab. She attributes the absence of such basic niceties to the school's lack of state funding f ... More >>

Deion Sanders' Charter School Doesn't Have -- and May Have Trouble Getting -- City Approval to Open Its Dallas Campus

Prime Prep Academy, the charter school co-founded by former Cowboy Deion Sanders, recently accepted more than 1,100 students for its inaugural school year, and hundreds of those students are slated to attend its campus in Oak Cliff. The question is whether that campus will even be available to the ... More >>

Deion Sanders' Prime Prep Academy Has Registered 1,100 Students and Counting

Is it any wonder that Prime Prep Academy, the charter school hyped by Deion Sanders, is accepting triple the number of students that most charter schools accept in their first year? Everything about the place has been propped up with hopeful grandeur. Sanders, the school's co-founder and spokesperso ... More >>

Meet F.R. Mays, the Fort Worth Bishop Who Swears He Knows "Nothing" About Deion Sanders' Charter School

Early last week, before the start of his ongoing divorce hearing with dramatics suited for a soap opera, former Cowboy Deion Sanders tweeted the above photo. It looks like a boring portrait of three wide-smiling, well-dressed men. In fact, the photo is quite revealing of the tangle of lies behind Pr ... More >>

Deion Sanders' Charter School and the Making of a Prime Time Scam

A businessman and a bishop used Cowboys' Hall of Famer Deion Sanders' name to drum up interest in a charter school. Then they tried to score from the deal.

Deion Sanders Is Having The Worst Week Ever (Updated)

Well, last week was pretty bad too, as he physically fought with his estranged wife in front of his kids and then tweeted a photo of his two boys filling out police reports. A picture speaks way more than 140 characters, and that tweet was one in a series of martyr-like messages, using the platform ... More >>

Ten Things We Learned from Last Night's Dallas ISD Forum at the Kessler Theater

In the spirit of last night's D-slash-TED-slash-SMU DISD Education Forum at the Kessler -- which asked each school board candidate one and only one randomly drawn question -- here are some rapid-fire observations from an evening that, while admirably efficient, was over not long after it started. 1 ... More >>

Five Questions for Mike Miles, DISD Superintendent (and Former Senate) Candidate

Yesterday, Mike Miles, an Army Ranger turned education reformer, was named the lone finalist for Dallas Independent School District's superintendent job. Today begins 21 days of tire-kicking, a mandatory waiting and vetting period before the district and Miles can officially wed. Plenty of people ... More >>

Ending "Political Catfight," Council Votes to Help Uplift Sell Cheaper Bonds For Expansion

​The Dallas City Council council didn't waste much time getting 'round to the most eagerly awaited showdown of the day: Item No. 53 on its agenda, which creates that nonprofit that would allow Uplift Education to some $85 million in low-interest-rate bonds. As city Chief Financial Officer Jeanne C ... More >>

Dallas' Charter School Plan May Be a Good Idea, But It Was Badly Executed

Some on City Council Continue to Pit Charters Against DISD. For the Children, Of Course.

​A little after 2:30 the council got 'round to that Uplift briefing, which was supposed to be about the city's creating a nonprofit corporation to help the charter school sell tax-free bonds for its expansion into Deep Ellum and Fort Worth. Which, as the council's been reminded over and over, will ... More >>

Before Vote to Help Uplift Sell Less Expensive Bonds, City Council to Get Schooled on Charters

​Below is the charter school briefing the city council was promised last week, but only after the heated discussion punctuated by Mayor Mike Rawlings's fiery call to expand charters -- because, as he said, "freedom is choice, choice creates excellence, and excellence graduates kids." The purpose o ... More >>

Uplift, Deep Ellum Community Association Are Trying For a "Win-Win" With Planned School

At this very moment the city council members are discussing whether they'd like to get into the bond business to help Uplift Education with its plan to sell tax-exempt bonds to help open a new charter school in the former Baylor offices Deep Ellum. (Sounds, so far, like the item will be deferred, th ... More >>

Item Involving Charter School's Bonds Pushes Council Into Passionate Philosophical Debate

​This was a good day -- such days do occur -- to study democracy in action at Dallas City Hall. The city council engaged in a smart debate on a proposal to help a charter school organization sell bonds to build more charter schools. The mayor and council decided not to decide. If you listened to ... More >>

What's the Hurry? Why Does Council Have to Vote on Helping Uplift Sell Bonds This Week?

​You know the cell phones must have been burning all weekend when the first city council committee briefing of the week at City Hall on Monday morning starts off with a rebuttal. Wait, rebuttal already? While those of us out here in the peanut gallery are still wiping the weekend from our eyes, co ... More >>

Dallas City Hall Wants to Create Nonprofit to Help Uplift Education Sell Bonds for Expansion

​Speaking of Uplift Education and its planned expansion into Deep Ellum ...There's an intriguing item that just appeared on the Dallas City Council's consent addendum for next week's meeting, posted here. According to the doc, the city wants to create a nonprofit called the City of Dallas Educatio ... More >>

In Deion Sanders's Quest for a Charter School, the Whistleblower Turns it Up to 11

Lawrence Smith has what you might call a bit of a beef with Cowboys great Deion Sanders. And he just took that beef -- what's that phrase? Ah yes. Priiiime tiiiime. A few years back, Smith went into business with Sanders and a businessman named D.L. Wallace on a high-school recruiting directory cal ... More >>

Dallas ISD Trustees Blackburn, Nutall Have Had It With Dallas NAACP Prez's "Slander and Libel"

Via.Juanita Wallace​Ah, so this is why Dallas Independent School District board president Lew Blackburn and trustee Bernadette Nutall want to clamp down on public speakers at school board meetings -- comments made by Dallas NAACP President Juanita Wallace at the October 20 board meeting. Specifica ... More >>

Dallas ISD's Without a Superintendent, a Chief Academic Officer and, Now, a Chief of Schools

Donna Micheaux​Earlier today, when word broke that Donna Micheaux was out the door as the Dallas Independent School District's chief of schools, I asked Jon Dahlander if there was Official Comment concerning the surprising departure. Because it is surprising, at least on the surface: Micheaux, who ... More >>

Ranger Tries to Use Outside Contributions to Tie Blackburn to Charters. Donors Say: "Nope."

Lew Blackburn​At some point this evening, the Dallas Independent School District board of trustees will elect new officers. Among the front-runners for president is Lew Blackburn, which may explain why Carla Ranger took to her blog earlier today to throw Blackburn under the bus.You see, there's no ... More >>

DISD Projects $120 Mil Shortfall, Which Would Mean 1,091 Layoffs and No Full-Day Pre-K

​It's been a long, contentious meeting of the Dallas Independent School District board of trustees, and we just got to the latest budget update. First, Carla Ranger wanted to know why Bernadette Nutall, with Superintendent Michael Hinojosa's OK, halted construction at a handful of South Dallas sch ... More >>

Charter School "Streamlining" Proposal Yanked From Dallas ISD's Board Meeting Today

​Those tuning in to today's Dallas Independent School District board briefing expecting to hear what was sure to be a heated discussion about how to "streamline the process for implementing a charter school" are out of luck. The item's been pulled, as trustee Carla Ranger pointed out yesterday on ... More >>

On Thursday, DISD Board to Discuss Proposal That'll Make It Easier to Create Charter Schools

​On Thursday morning, the Dallas Independent School District's board of trustees will take its first long, hard look at a proposal to "streamline the process for implementing a charter school." It's the result of months of work by the board's Charter School Ad Hoc Committee, which was tasked with ... More >>

In DISD Trustee News: Ranger Unhappy With Citizens Budget Review Commission Line-Up, While Cowan Offers a "Budget Bracket"

DISD via FacebookThe first Citizen Budget Review Commission meeting, held on Monday​On Friday we were introduced to the Dallas Independent School District's Citizens Budget Review Commission, a 10-member group selected by the school board and Superintendent Michael Hinojosa that's been tasked with ... More >>

At Last, Carla Ranger Weighs In On Budget Cuts

​It's been a long while since Dallas Independent School District District 6 trustee served up a hot sports opinion on her blog. But given the looming "new reality" that has led to trustees being asked to consider giving teachers $10 million to scoot before they're fired, Ranger can hold her tongue ... More >>

Dallas ISD Trustees Take A Look At Ways to Bring More Charter Schools Into the District

​A handful of Dallas Independent School District gatheredn the old board room at 3700 Ross this morning to poke at a question with big implications: How can the district get the most of its new partnerships charter schools, possibly even next school year? Born out of April's West Dallas "School Zo ... More >>

Weeks After West Dallas School Reform Announcement, DISD Board's Ready for Details

DISD Superintendent Michael Hinojosa​Superintendent Michael Hinojosa drew a roomful of huzzahs two weeks ago when he announced that DISD was getting involved in a new effort for school reform in West Dallas. A handful of DISD trustees were among the cheering crowd, including Lew Blackburn and boar ... More >>

Education Guru To Dallas Teachers: In School Reform, "There Are No Miracles"

Patrick MichelsDiane Ravitch speaking at the Dallas Institute's first annual Education Forum last night.​The big shakeups credited with turning around public schools in New York, New Orleans and Washington, D.C. -- which Mayor Tom Lepeprt and organizers cite as influences for a new school reform e ... More >>

Trustee Carla Ranger Is Very Unhappy With DISD Super's West Dallas Initiative

DISD trustee Carla Ranger​Yesterday Patrick Michels brought back this report from Dallas City Hall, where Mayor Tom Leppert and Dallas Independent School District Superintendent Michael Hinojosa introduced the so-called the West Dallas "School Zone," a public-private partnership involving charter ... More >>

DISD's Running Full-Speed to Reform Through New West Dallas "School Zone"

Patrick MichelsChartering a new course: Mayor Tom Leppert and DISD superintendent Michael Hinojosa this morning at Dallas City Hall​This morning's mayor's breakfast at City Hall featured a parade of speakers covering the need for big-picture reforms in West Dallas education, the sort of shakeups t ... More >>

Flunking Out

Charter school scandals are teaching Texas a tough lesson -- one the state should have known four years and $77 million ago.