235 jobs cut at specialized Dallas ISD campuses

Teacher Robert Jette said he learned Tuesday his job was being cut at Rice Elementary, a learning center in South Dallas. He teaches physical education and, before that, taught in the school science lab.

He said he understands the district's rationale that schools should be equally supported, but it still hurts.

"I just hated it because I hoped to retire at Rice. I met my wife at Rice. It kind of broke my heart," Jette said.

Rice is losing 7.5 positions.

Jette said that includes piano, dance, band and computer lab teachers.

Rather than slice positions at schools such as Rice, Jette said, it makes better educational sense to add positions at other campuses if schools need to be equalized.

"I would rather see all the kids at all the schools have more," he said. "It obviously works – we're going to be an exemplary-rated campus this year."

But not everyone agrees. Trustee Edwin Flores voted in favor of the cuts.

"We have special schools that have more [money], and the feds have said you can't have more," he said.

Flores also cited a recent study that found no real difference in student achievement at the learning centers compared to regular campuses.

"Does more money yield better education? If that were the case, D.C. would have the best schools in the country. So would Detroit," Flores said.

The learning centers offer longer school days and after-school programs and were formed to provide minority children, previously bused to predominantly white neighborhood campuses, with good schools in their own neighborhoods.

In April, district leaders said they had to balance funding levels at schools across DISD, lest they run afoul of federal rules that require schools to receive roughly the same local funding per student. They said $105 million in federal money was at risk.

Later, after pressure from parents, board members and magnet supporters, Dallas officials said the federal rules didn't apply to several magnet campuses that draw students from all over the district. Those included some of the district's nationally recognized campuses.

But Superintendent Michael Hinojosa and others have still favored some cuts at those magnets because they spend more than many other campuses do.

The months-long controversy about cuts to magnets and learning centers has ignited a huge debate over the question of fairness and equity in one of the nation's largest public systems.

Some have questioned the need for extra funds for learning centers in a school district that is now predominantly poor and minority. But those who fought for the special schools as part of the district's desegregation order say the campuses will only suffer with the cuts, and that the district should live up to promises it made in court. All three black trustees voted against the cuts.

Last week, DISD had proposed shuffling 276 positions. But the board passed two amendments that lowered the number. Trustees spared Yvonne A. Ewell Townview Center and Travis Academy/Vanguard for the Academically Talented and Gifted from cuts. And they raised slightly the recommended staffing level for learning centers.

Principals at the affected campuses learned Tuesday how many positions they'd lose. The district did not announce the cuts until late Wednesday, the last day of the school year, because it had to firm up the numbers and notify board members, spokesman Jon Dahlander said.

He said principals must decide which positions to cut.

"The principals need to sit down with pen and paper and take a look at how they're going to staff their campuses," Dahlander said. It could take a week or two for those decisions to be finalized, he said.

Also yet to be determined: Just where those teachers and others will be sent.

The district will hold a job fair soon for internal candidates.

"As positions become available, our goal is to let them know so they can get picked up at another campus," Dahlander said.