Home > Letters to the Editor

Details on DISD raises

Miles, Dallas ISD

A mugshot of Mike Miles, Dallas ISD superintendent, during the forum ÒVital Lessons: How Dallas Confronted the Ebola ChallengeÓ hosted by The Dallas Morning News in the lecture hall in the Edith O'Donnell Arts and Technology Building at the University of Texas at Dallas in Richardson, Texas Wednesday November 5, 2014. (Staff photo)

Re: “DISD $100K club grows — 175 make six figures; Miles says district needs to be competitive,” Oct. 28 news story, and “DISD financial affairs are clouding classroom mission,” by Steve Blow, Oct. 30, Metro column.

Two stories in last week’s Dallas Morning News gave readers a false impression of the raises received by senior-level leaders in Dallas ISD. Both gave the impression that the 25 highest-paid administrators all received raises greater than what other employees received while remaining in their same roles. This is far from reality.

Here is the truth about the 25 positions:

Ten received the board-approved 3 percent raise that all teachers, and nearly all other staff, received.

Seven were promoted to new roles with significantly greater responsibility. For example, five executive directors, who oversaw approximately 12 schools each, were promoted to assistant superintendent positions with oversight of approximately 40 schools apiece.

Three are new to the district.

Two are internal audit employees. The internal auditor’s salary is set by the board, which, in turn, sets salaries for his staff. Both employees received promotions.

Only three remained in the same role and received salary increases above the standard 3 percent provided districtwide. Of those, one is still paid $20,000 less than her predecessor, one is now comparable with her predecessor and the third is commensurate with his peers with similar duties and responsibilities.

The initial story also suggested that teachers are being paid less than they were four years ago. In fact, Dallas ISD teachers have received raises each of the last two years, 2 percent and 3 percent, respectively. Teachers who have remained with the district during that time are, on the whole, being paid more for their service.

Thanks to a new evaluation and compensation system, Dallas ISD principals received on average a salary increase of $9,000 this school year. A similar system will go into place for Dallas ISD teachers next year, meaning there is every expectation that teachers will receive higher salaries that reward them for their effectiveness in the classroom rather than for their years of service.

Thank you for the opportunity to present the facts.

Jon Dahlander,

communication services, Dallas ISD 

Voter laryngitis

Re: “Women from rehab program savor chance to vote — After righting lives of crime and abuse, they find a voice at the polls,” Wednesday news story.

I congratulate the women of the rehab program “We’ve Been There Done That” who cast their first votes on Tuesday. One stated, “I feel like my voice was being heard.”

I guess the over 9 million registered Texans who didn’t bother to make their way to the polls suffer from voter laryngitis. I am sure they will recover quickly and yell the loudest when politics doesn’t go their way.

Linda Marie Ford England,

Dallas/Lakewood 

Burden now is on Obama

I am amazed at the media outlets talking about gridlock in Washington, when for six years the Democrats controlled the Senate and White House. Gridlock was caused by the Senate Democrats by not working with the Republican-controlled House. If it continues now, I believe it can directly be laid at the feet of the president.

Harold Paul, Frisco

@hjonasp

 

 

Education begins at home

This story explained that the achievement gap between minority and white students is widening in DISD. Has anyone compared the achievement of the Asian students?

I would suggest that the issue here is not with schools or teachers, but whether parents are actively involved in raising their children. This means talking to your child from birth. This may mean turning off the TV and playing with your children or reading to them, setting boundaries and disciplining your children in love. It does not take money to raise a good student. It takes time and involvement in the home. This is where education begins and continues.

Schools and teachers are supplementing what should be happening in the home. God gives us children to raise in his image for his purposes. How are we doing in raising his child? I believe we will be held accountable.

Carol Zinn, Dallas/Lakewood

New line of thought for Oncor

Re: “Oncor sweats under scrutiny — October outages spark inquiry into reliability, maintenance standards,” Sunday news story.

I think I have a solution for the Oncor power outages. Why not run electrical power lines underground through the sewer lines that connect to every home in Dallas? The sewer lines range in sizes from large 10-foot tunnels to 8-inch-diameter pipes that could carry half-inch electrical power lines to each home. Oncor could save millions of dollars by not trimming and mutilating our trees, and our lights would stay on.

Walter Ender, Dallas

Sad, but it’s assisted suicide is still suicide

It was sad that Brittany Maynard had a terminal illness, but I think it was sadder that she chose to have her life ended in the way it was.

By going public with her death wish and then following through on it, I believe Maynard wasted away whatever time she would have had left on this earth — all for a political cause. In my opinion, assisted suicide is suicide nonetheless. No ifs, ands or buts.

A.J. CHilson, Princeton

@AJ_Chilson

Limerick: UN Climate Change Report – Serious, solution is American money.

When all of the trees have been hugged,
And all disagreement is plugged,
The climate change offers,
And United States coffers,
Are all gonna see they’ve been mugged.

On dying well

brittany maynard

FILE - This undated file photo provided by the Maynard family shows Brittany Maynard, a 29-year-old terminally ill woman who planned to die under Oregon's law that allows the terminally ill to end their own lives. The Vatican's top bioethics official calls "reprehensible" the suicide of an American woman suffering terminal brain cancer who stated she wanted to die with dignity. Monsignor Ignacio Carrasco de Paula, the head of the Pontifical Academy for Life, reportedly said Tuesday, Nov. 4, 2014 that "dignity is something other than putting an end to one's own life." Brittany Maynard's suicide in Oregon on Saturday, following a public declaration of her motives aimed at sparking political action on the issue, has stirred debate over assisted suicide for the terminally ill. (AP Photo)

Re: “A better way to go — Courage, love and faith in the face of suffering and death can change the world, says Michelle Daniel Chadwick,” Saturday Viewpoints.

Amen to Michelle Daniel Chadwick’s well-expressed response to Brittany Maynard’s plans to end her life. Yes, courage, love and faith in the face of suffering and death can change the world. I have personally witnessed this through the recent illnesses and deaths of my parents, as well as my mother-in-law.

Elenora Asbury, Dallas

No thanks on robo-cars

Re: “Robotic cars closer, safer than you think — Human drivers will go the way of horse and buggy, says Vivek Wadhwa,” Sunday Points.

The writer may well be correct, but I, for one, hope he is not. We are already being controlled by too much mindless computerization. We might as well just climb aboard a bus or train and not have the expense of a car at all.

Another suggestion might be to take all the money spent for motorized vehicles, gasoline, insurance, maintenance and medical expenses from accidents and invest it in citywide mass transportation systems throughout the country. We then could disallow private vehicles on streets within any city limits, let the mass transportation industry replace the auto industry for economic purposes (which might bring jobs back into this country, by the way) and end up with cleaner air and a lot less noise.

We might also become healthier with all the walking and bicycling we’d have to do. Just a thought.

LeRoy White, Denton

Invest in education

Re: “Class size matters on SATs — Student-teacher ratio is a math problem that needs solving, says Shane Bybee,” Saturday Viewpoints.

Shane Bybee’s column hit dead center in his critique of SAT results and the present-day large class sizes. I wish to broaden his argument with a suggestion that our state Legislature and governor have not really committed to making education a priority for anything other than lip service.

For those who disagree, I would ask you why Texas continues to rank near the bottom for education spending among the 50 states? Our 46th ranking profoundly raises the question of where our priorities lie. Our children are our future, but we spend less money per student today than we did in 2011.

While some will chafe at the thought of paying higher taxes for our school system, I would suggest that you consider your public sacrifice an investment in our state’s future that will be multiplied many times over. Let’s truly commit ourselves to doing whatever it takes to rank in the top 20 for education funding. Forty-sixth is nothing to brag about.

Andy Norton, Irving

Newcomers need a hand

Re: “Desire to be an American vital,” by Jo Francis Byrd, Monday Letters.

This letter concerning immigrants to our country who find it difficult to assimilate reflects the frustration many Americans have with a very difficult process of welcoming the stranger in our midst. Our country presents a puzzling maze for people who are new to our shores.

Working as a pastor in the midst of a changing Lewisville neighborhood where an aging, largely Anglo congregation struggles to get its arms around the immigrant community that needs welcome and support, we are challenged to provide ESL classes and fill the financial and emotional support gaps for students whose parents work two to three low-wage jobs and lack the time to do everything they need and want to do.

Add to the above the obvious language and cultural differences, and it is easy to understand frustration all around. I believe what is needed is more people who are willing to help reach out to these new neighbors and in that engagement find the great joy and excitement of being a part of the solution instead of simply standing by in frustration.

John Zeigler, Denton

Old coots were right about Dallas trolleys

Re: “‘In my mind, it can’t fail’ — Ex-skeptic Gonzalez sees trolleys as key to city’s future,” Saturday news story.

The story about City Manager A.C. Gonzalez’s enthusiasm for streetcars was both satisfying and a bit ironic.

Having grown up on the Junius Heights line in East Dallas, I can recall what we considered old men at the time bemoaning the demise of the streetcar and saying they would have to bring them back someday. It was repeated so often, in fact, that it became sort of an old coot cliché to us. I can recall having great sport in mocking it.

Looking back, how prescient those old coots were after all.

Aubra Thomas, North Dallas

Trick or treating

Hurrah for Halloween

Re: “Halloween gripers are pumpkin heads,” by Jacquielynn Floyd, Friday Metro column.

I enjoyed Jacquielynn Floyd’s column about Halloween gripers, and she is absolutely right. My husband and I have no children at home, yet we have great fun with Halloween. We have spooky decorations at the door, and we also dress up. The kids love it, and so do we.

We live in a very nice neighborhood, and it is obvious that some of the children ringing our doorbell don’t live nearby. We could not care less. It is candy and children, two things that go together regardless of parent income. Every child coming to our door on Halloween gets candy. The joy we have in seeing their costumes and excited little faces is more than enough compensation for our expense on candy.

Susan Giardina, Allen

A kid’s take on Halloween

I am a 13-year-old boy who went trick-or-treating this year. I didn’t trick-or-treat in my neighborhood because my parents went to a Halloween party. They had a son so I went trick-or-treating with him and several others who were about my age. My mom stayed behind to hand out candy and came to the party later.

The neighborhood I was in was about equal to the neighborhood that I live in. It was equal to mine, but it wasn’t my neighborhood. After we went trick-or-treating, we walked back to the house and traded candy while watching The Simpsons.

My mom said that when she was a kid, it was a thrill to go to a better neighborhood to trick-or-treat. Now she tries to make our house the one that everyone wants to come to. She even bought a case of regular-size candy bars, mixed them in, and handed them out to the other kids.

Joshua Fick, Carrollton

Give veterans their due

Re: “Study: 60,000 veterans get triple benefits — Senator says programs need streamlining, but groups disagree,” Sunday news story.

When the measure restoring military retirement pay for veterans who were also receiving disability payments passed, Sen. John Warner, R-Va, a former Navy secretary, indicated it was justified and additional studies of individual cases would show he is correct.

A friend, in his 90s, a war-injured World War II and Korean War veteran, just got approved for disability and a settlement, given based on the years since he first applied.

I am a disabled Korean War combat veteran and have suffered pain from the 40-below-zero cold of Korea when we were not provided adequate footwear. I, however, did not apply for my VA disability until I was in my 70s, when I was encouraged by VA officials to apply. I paid Social Security for more than 45 years.

This nation has willingly gone into extreme debt for our recent foreign wars, but it appears Sen. Tom Coburn resents providing what is due to our servicemen. No one can give them back the years they lost.

Edward V. Harris, Hugo, Okla.

Dallas ISD troubles continue

Mike Miles

DALLAS, TX - OCTOBER 20: Dallas Independent School District Superintendent Mike Miles announced that eight students who were in isolation due to exposure to an Ebola victim will return to school Tuesday during a news conference about the recent Ebola infections at the Dallas County Administration Building October 20, 2014 in Dallas, Texas. (Getty Images)

DISD mess merits indictments

Re: “Inquiry: Ex-trustee helped realty firm — Preferential treatment, outsize commission uncovered in audit,” Monday news story.

I am no longer surprised when I hear about another South Dallas politician caught in a corruption scandal, but I am still outraged by the things they do to their own constituents. I applaud The News for their investigation into the properties bought for Salazar and Botello Elementary Schools and Dade Middle School.

How could the DISD Board of Trustees allow themselves to be manipulated into contracts with Collins Co. when other bids were financially better for the district? As bad as it was for Dallas ISD, costing it hundreds of thousands of dollars in exorbitant commissions, I feel even sorrier for the local property owners who were lied to.

The money the district lost will be picked up by the taxpayers, of course, but divided between all the taxpayers. Not so with the property owners who were cheated out of their property by being told if they didn’t sell to Collins Co., then DISD would use eminent domain and give them even less. In reality, one owner sold to Collins for $38,000, then Collins turned around and sold it to DISD for $109,000.

Please tell me indictments will be forthcoming.

Diane Church, Plano

It’s always something with DISD

Re: “Inquiry: Ex-trustee helped realty firm — Preferential treatment, outsize commission uncovered in audit,” Monday news story and “DISD $100K club grows — 175 make six figures; Miles says district needs to be competitive,” Tuesday news story.

We have been asking this question about the Dallas ISD for many, many years: “What’s next?” And there is always a next. The latest revelations came in quick succession.

The recent internal audit report demonstrates without doubt that a Dallas ISD trustee steered a lucrative deal to a company that involved a real estate commission far above the usual and customary. We are left to wonder what the trustee, Ron Price, received in return. Where are the controls and checks and balances to prevent such an abuse of office?

The second “next” involved the disclosure that the top DISD administrators received salary increases significantly above what teachers receive and that the number making in excess of $100,000 has increased. Another example of bad judgment and poor public relations awareness at the top level. Throw in arrogance, too.

Sadly, disillusioned taxpayers will shake their heads and continue to ask, “What’s next?”

Fred Neary, Far North Dallas

Board should act against Miles

Re: “DISD fires another top investigator — Auditor won praise for tech fund cleanup,” Friday news story.

Our children don’t stand a chance and from the looks of this story, it’s going to be a long time before they get a break.

Firing Don Smith for doing his job, which just happened to be investigating possible wrongdoing by some of Superintendent Mike Miles’ cabinet, seems to speak for itself.

Being fired abruptly with no explanation, and without the approval of the very trustees who are in place to ensure against this kind of mismanagement, is just outrageous. And all of this comes right behind Miles’ generous raises to the administration staff, which also appears to have happened without warning.

When the problem with an organization starts at the top, you have to chop off the head of the snake. Maybe the Board of Trustees will stop hiding under a rock and do just that.

Tom Zielinski, downtown Dallas

Desire to be an American is vital

Re: “Immigrant wants to stay,” by Emilio Soberanis, Friday Letters.

Emilio Soberanis loves “the USA with all my heart” but doesn’t “really care much about being a U.S. citizen,” he just wants to live and work here, to take advantage of everything this wonderful country has to offer. He doesn’t want to be an American, he wants to be a (insert citizen of country of origin) living here.

With that kind of attitude, I’m not inclined to support any kind of immigration reform that allows people who “don’t care much about being a U.S. citizen,” who don’t want to be Americans, to stay. Legally or otherwise.

You want to be an American, then come and be welcome. You want to come and be a (insert citizen of country of origin) living here, not interested in becoming American, please go home and work to make your own country better.

Jo Francis Byrd, Dallas

Three cheers to Judge Jenkins, Reilly Elementary School and Phil Collins

1 To Judge Clay Jenkins — Thank you to Jenkins, who I believe deserves “Texan of the Year” for salvaging the reputation Texans sometimes get in other states for our “unusual” acts and notions from time to time. I’m hearing from friends and relatives about how brave he must be to stick his neck out to do the right thing in Dallas, Texas. How brave, indeed!

Jenkins followed his heart, which, incidentally, is in the right place, and did the morally correct thing for both the unaccompanied immigrants at our Texas border and the county residents who might have become so panicky and fearful as to have done very immoral things to the family of Ebola victim Thomas Eric Duncan and the hospital nurses. His leadership calmed a super-hot situation surrounding Ebola. Dallas is proud to have Clay Jenkins serving our county. As a Baylor grad, I believe he knows where his real reward will be, but I do wish the city of Dallas could reward his outstanding leadership during these two times of extreme stress.

Eulaine Hall, northwest Dallas

2 To Reilly Elementary School — Three Cheers for Reilly’s Good Citizen Award program. To earn this award, students do not have to be a top athlete or scholar, they just need to be respectful, honest and well-behaved.

Across the country there is a big push for higher test scores. This Dallas ISD school remembers that both go hand-in-hand with students learning how to work with others and be civil. Whether students are gifted or not, society benefits when people are humble and diplomatic. Thanks, Reilly, for remembering this.

John Stettler, Dallas

3 To Phil Collins — Thank you for your generous donation of your personal collection of Texas artifacts to our state. It was very kind and selfless to do so. I think many Texans agree, and our gratitude is without end.

Max Pinson, Dallas

Three Cheers is a weekly collection of upbeat letters that inspire readers to think and act positively. Share your own timely story or observation by submitting a Three Cheers letter at dallasnews.com/sendletters.

Canadians say, ‘Thanks, U.S.’

After the recent attacks in Ottawa and Montreal resulting in the deaths of two Canadian soldiers, Americans have been among the first and most generous in expressing their condolences. This show of solidarity is greatly appreciated by all Canadians but has a special place in the hearts of citizens far from home, including those of us at the Consulate General of Canada in Dallas.

Our team would like to extend our earnest thanks to the neighbors we work with across Texas, Louisiana, Arkansas, Oklahoma and New Mexico for their outpouring of support.

In times of tragedy when the safety and values of our citizens come under attack, few things are as effective as the Canada-U.S. relationship in demonstrating what cooperation between nations can accomplish.

As friends, partners and allies, we share the longest, busiest and most peaceful border in the world.

We have long worked together to ensure mutual prosperity and security, whether through intelligence-sharing, cooperative law enforcement or integrated border management, and though we have together faced a range of evolving threats, no terrorist has ever been successful in attacking the U.S. from Canada or vice versa.

We look forward to continuing to make this special partnership even stronger.

Wendy Rogers,

consul and manager of public affairs,
Consulate General of Canada, Dallas