Talk DISD Live
This is an open-ended, ongoing discussion of all things related to Dallas ISD.
We are pulling comments from Twitter using #talkDISD. We're also pulling in the Twitter stream of Mike Miles, superintendent. If you'd like to have your stream pulled into this conversation automatically, contact Matthew Haag at mhaag@dallasnews.com or Tawnell Hobbs at thobbs@dallasnews.com. For a mobile version of this discussion, click here.
By Tawnell D. Hobbs and Matthew Haag
Staff Writers
Dallas ISD administrators have hired an outside attorney to investigate complaints against Trustee Bernadette Nutall, surprising school board members who were told about it for the first time Thursday night.
DISD general counsel Jack Elrod told board members in closed session that the district hired former U.S. Attorney Paul Coggins to lead the investigation, trustees told The Dallas Morning News. The complaints were made by three employees – after Superintendent Mike Miles ordered police to forcibly remove Nutall from Dade Middle School last month.
“The fact that this is coming up right now, to me — the timing of all this seems peculiar,” board President Miguel Solis said Friday.
Miles, who oversees the district, said he was unaware that Coggins was hired.
“I don’t know anything about Paul Coggins being hired,” he said Friday. “The person you need to talk to or could talk to is Jack Elrod.”
Elrod couldn’t be reached for comment. Dallas ISD spokesman Jon Dahlander said he wouldn’t comment about items discussed with trustees in closed session.
Nutall, who attended Thursday’s meeting, said the district has bigger issues to address.
“Dade Middle School is still in a state of flux, and children are suffering,” Nutall said in an email late Friday. “If Mr. Miles put as much thought, energy and effort in working with all parents, communities and trustees as he does working against certain ones, all while evading responsibility for his actions and subpar results, then this entire district would be performing better than it has under his leadership.”
The Dade incident sparked outrage among some community leaders, who are calling for Miles to resign.
Solis said he first heard about Coggins being hired Wednesday and confirmed it with Elrod before Thursday’s meeting. He said he asked Elrod to inform trustees about the investigation during the meeting.
Trustee Lew Blackburn said he also found the timing of the investigation suspicious.
“It is a strong coincidence,” Blackburn said. “I was surprised. I’m concerned that the superintendent has allowed an investigation to begin about a trustee before letting the board know from the onset.”
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The people on the board were Morath, Bingham and Blackburn. No surprise. Makes you wonder if the person being investigated at Dade had a proper background check. Probably not.
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I wonder who was on the board panel that upheld Liebbe"s firing? Probably Morath, Bingham, and Solis. While most of the Board of Trustees for Dallasisd are corrupt, these three seem the most in the pockets of Todd Williams and Ken Barth. Their voting to uphold a wrongful dismissal is a sure sign of their corruption. Makes you wonder when Mes goes to jail, if these three won't be his cell
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This is from an interview with a Chicago principal. Sound familiar? "Tony LaRaviere: When you ask a venture capitalist about education reform the first thing on his mind is not a student. The first thing on his mind is the $5.8 billion that the Chicago Public Schools spends and how he can steer some of that towards his profit margin. And you can’t steer it towards your profit margin unless you take some of it away from students. The biggest expense in any school system is labor. You can’t have a professional teaching force and profit from it. You have to deprofessionalize teaching so that you can depress the wages. This is at the very heart of school reform: the depression of wages. And you can depress wages through many different schemes: charter schools that don’t require certification and pay lower wages, or this idea of virtual schools that don’t have education professionals who need to be paid."
excerpted from edushyster.com This is the direction we are headed. Look to Chicago for the future of education in Dallas. -
Open Mike Live Community Meetings begin at 6 p.m. Here is the list of scheduled "Open Mike" meetings taken from www.dallasisd.org
DATE TOPIC • LOCATION • ADDRESS
Tuesday, Nov. 18
College and Careers
Seagoville High School • 15820 Seagoville Rd., 75253
Tuesday, Feb. 10
Early Childhood Education
David W. Carter High School • 1819 W. Wheatland Rd., 75232
Tuesday, March 31
School Choice
Hillcrest High School • 9924 Hillcrest Rd., 75230
Tuesday, April 14
Imagine 2020
L.G. Pinkston • 2200 Dennison St., 75212 -
The $30,000 should be deducted from those Cabinet administrators who secretly received anywhere from a 12% to 14% raise from Miles. It's about the students and not the money. Let's here from the cabinet administrators. Great idea huh?
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I would love to see how much $, both directly and indirectly, Miles is costing this district. Someone from outside the district needs to step in and stop this mad man!
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Please forward this link in order to complete the petition for Lara our student at Rangel. www.change.org
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Could someone, anyone please, please, explain to me how this superintendent continue to waste our hard earned TAX DOLLARS on yet another useless investigation? These dollars are needed in the classroom!!!
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We have a newish principal with no teaching background who has alienated all of our veteran teachers and who has poor judgment with parents and poor decision making. Who do we talk to about making a change in leadership at our school?
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#DISD Focuses on Parents & Young Kids for Two-Generation Strategy to Reduce #Poverty . bit.ly/1GSPmAA #DallasISD #TalkDISD #educationby TXOrgProject via twitter 11/13/2014 4:35:01 PM
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DISD Sexual Assault: This is What Disruptive Change Looks Like #talkDISD disdblog.com/2014/11/13/dis…by DFPE.ORG via twitter 11/13/2014 4:18:19 PM
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by DFPE.ORG via twitter 11/13/2014 2:36:38 PM
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Dallas police investigating child sex crime allegations at Dade - #talkDISD myFOXdfw.com myfoxdfw.com/story/27371005…by DFPE.ORG via twitter 11/13/2014 2:35:15 PM
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Miles surrounded himself with nincompoops. No one will question the biggest nincompoop running this district. Retaliation, coercion, intimidation, harassment, you name it. This little short man is full of himself.
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@Tig, one could only wonder how many complaints, grievances, lawsuits, accusations, policy breakings, and on and on against Floyd Miles. History has been made for this record and it AIN'T for great DOLs.
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Are you kidding Mikes is too chicken to go to Dade for his talk show. What a joke.
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Miles is a BUSTER in a clown suit who has been investigated for free and what. Take the 30K and ship Miles out of here.
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Hey Miles. Will Nancy and your wife be allowed to attend the open mike session at Seagoville????? Why not go to Dade with your traveling mike???? Epic failed. We do NOT want to hear from you!
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Another scandal! Billy Dade School again! Miles should resign today!
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Tanya Grayson, who lied on her application about having criminal charges is now filing a complaint against Nuttall. Miles , bus driver is filing a complaint and an unknown party. Miles forwarded these complaints to Jack Elrod. Miles asked Reyna to make a complaint and Reyna refused. When asked about the investigation Miles said he didn't know anything about it even after forwarding the complaints to Elrod. Unbelievable. More waste of taxpayer money. Makes me wonder if Miles has not had a mental breakdown or something if he expects us to believe this is unrelated to the Dade incident or if these charges are accurate. I am not a Nuttall fan. I think she is a racist but come on. We all see this investigation for what it is. Retaliation and trying to cover his a--.
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No matter how the district spins it, the public are not fools to believe the hocus pocus manipulation. When a vendor is hired to render services, the department's supervisor need to submit a P1C request. Signatures are required to get the final approval. Who signed the P1C for to pay for Coggins' services? FOI request of the document and emails between Elrod, Mike Miles and Dahlander. The 3 employees who allegedly filed a complaint against Nutall are of dubious characters. Freddie the driver who signed a confidentiality agreement with Miles, Grayson the high-paid online diploma bearer, and the third unknown musketeer. Whoa only in DISD you get a soap opera like this.
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by Tawnell via twitter 11/13/2014 6:51:10 AM
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Be Careful what you ask for . . . . Although Miles and Cabinet live lavish life styles, they will have some sleepless nights. These lousy BULLIES will suffer the consequences. It's only the beginning. Be careful what you ask for.
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The BOT have placed the school district at-risk of litigation due to failure to protect employee rights while allowing the chief supervisor (superintenedent) to knowingly violate numerous policies. This precedent could be viewed by the courts as creating a hostile work environment and furthermore creating discriminatory practices. The educator subordinates might have a class action case against the chief of fiver and the BOT. This could be big.
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The BOT COULD BE HELD LIBEL for deliberate indifference for the situation at Dade. They have knowledge of a situation that they allowed to happen but failed to protect the students at Dade. This situation is the responsibility of the superintendent and ultimately the board. This will costs much money and will be interesting to watch.
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Yes, a great article from The New Yorker in the Huff Post today. Miles and Cami Anderson have more than a little in common, including backers. "It is no comfort to the families of Newark that they were less the victims of a conspiracy against them, but of an unconscionable oversight. Nobody played out the chess game and anticipated how children would be affected because they were not a serious consideration."
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episode of Dark ISD. It's something every other day!
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Mike Miles has an "Open Mike" starting again soon. I saw it in the email we received today. I have to laugh to myself and just wonder how "open" this "Open Mike" will be. I think we ALL know just how "open" and candid this will be. Everyone should show up...someone, please post the date, place and time.
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Sexual assault allegations at Dade Middle School apparently by an employee. Miles is ultimately responsible for these hires and how the school is being run. Is the principal back yet or is she still out sick?
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Police investigating sexual assault allegation at Dade Middle School share.d-news.co/wIW6FmJ #talkdisdby Tawnell via twitter 11/13/2014 1:31:58 AM
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Does anyone get the sense that Mike Miles and Cami Anderson in Newark, NJ have the same agenda....an all school choice system where neighborhood doesn't matter and choice isn't really choice? Does he have ties to NJ?
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This is from www.dallasisd.org
Today
6:00 PM
Home-Rule Charter Commission Accountability Sub Committee Meeting
6:00 PM
Home-Rule Charter Commission Educational Programs Sub Committee Meeting -
Here are the two meetings tonight of the DISD Home Rule Charter District Commission. These are meetings of two sub-committees that have been formed to address accountability and education programs. Both meetings are at 6 PM at 3700 Ross.