Former Dallas Achieves Co-Chair takes serious issue with Dallas ISD Superintendent Mike Miles' methods

Today, Trustees received the following observations from J. McDonald Williams, former Co-Chair of Dallas Achieves.


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From: Don Williams [don@jmwilliamsgroup.com]
Sent: Wednesday, May 22, 2013 12:12 PM
To: Miles, Mike
Cc: Bingham, Nancy; Blackburn, Lew; Cowan, Eric; Elizabeth Jones; Medrano, Adam; Dan Micciche; Morath, Mike; Nutall, Bernadette; Ranger, Carla;
Sanders, Byron; joela; Dolores Barzune'; David Biegler; allejo; Robert Estrada; Jim Keyes; Clint McDonnough; Liz Minyard; Holly Reed; John Scovell;
Sam Self; Ronald Steinhart; Victor Vital; Betheny Reid; Paula Blackmon'; afarley; Mike Rawlings; Pauline Medrano; Tennell Atkins; Delia.jasso;
Scott Griggs;Dwaine Caraway; Vonciel Hill; Monica Alonzo; Carolyn Davis; Sheffield Kadane; Jerry Allen; Linda Koop; Sandy Greyson; Ann Margolin;
Angela Hunt; Clay Jenkins'; M Cantrell; Theresa Daniel; Elba Garcia; John Price; Todd Williams; Arcilia C. Acosta ; Pettis Norman; Dan Branch;
Anchia, Rafael; Eric Johnson; Royce West; Eddie Bernice Johnson; Rod Givens
Subject: DISD

Mike:

I appreciate your May 5 letter, in which you requested that we meet again.  We have already had two

private meetings,which, in my view, were unproductive.Based on those meetings, as well as numerous
interviews and conversations with a representative cross section of stakeholders both inside and outside the District, I am deeply concerned about your leadership and believeDallas needs and deserves a broader conversation on how you are executing your “reform” agenda. 

I don’t have serious issues with your Destination 2020 high level statement of values, goals and initiatives.  

But I do take serious issue with the processes, fairness and communication of its implementation, 

which I shared with you in our last meeting. (And the key to successful change is always the

the implementation. Your methods are not inclusive or collaborative; in fact, they are described by teachers, principals and administrators as strident,intimidating, retaliatory and brooking no dissent

–“my way or the highway.”  My own experience suggests that your intimidation approach not 

only fails to respect the experiences and ideas of Dallas ISD educators, but also creates a culture of 

fear and reprisal that will fail to foster student learning, achievement and graduation and allow 

teacher and administrator recruitment.  Such a culture and set of practices threaten the stability of

Dallas ISD, and your “disruptive” change is more likely to be destructive.

Although some in the business and political communities have endorsed you and your policies, few of them know 

how your policies are actually being put into practice inour schools nor affecting the students. Nor do they
understand how your policies impose risks to such a vital organization as Dallas ISD.

In view of this, FCE has prepared the attached discussion paper, which is also being sent to School Board members 

and a wide array of stakeholders of Dallas ISD.My hope is it will be the beginning of a public conversation about
our public schools, along with other conditions affecting our lower-income fellow citizens.

Sincerely yours,

J. McDonald Williams

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Dallas ISD school board did not delay decision on principals until May

Education -  Dallas ISD school board delays decision on principals until May Dallas Morning News - 4-10-13 

• Dallas ISD school board’s decision to non-renew principals delayed to May

  Update at 2:25 p.m. on April 10
  Board president Lew Blackburn sends along this explanation for postponing the decision:
  “Waiting another month will give the administration more time to check their data and processes, to be sure the evaluation system has been applied fairly to all principals. The new evaluation system for principals has two parts: 60% based on management performance, and 40% based on student achievement. The board will need complete and accurate information from the administration. Superintendent Miles will bring his recommendations for all contract non-renewals to the board in May. This will also give principals more time to make decisions about their future. And, because this is a very important decision to non-renew a principal’s contract, the full board will hear any grievances brought by principals.”

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• Is the Dallas School board assessing performance of principals or avoiding an election backlash?

"I guess I shouldn’t be surprised by the DISD board’s decision to punt on whether to force out principals at some poorly performing schools until a closed session May. After the furor within the board and in some communities, the board  probably wants to delay a public clash as long as possible and prevent publicly turning principals on the bubble into lame duck administrators.  I’m not sure the delay is good for the district or those principals."

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The Dallas ISD Board did not make this decision. It was made by Board President Lew Blackburn as authorized by Board policy BE (LOCAL).

 

Board Policy BE (LOCAL) - REMOVAL OF ITEMS FROM THE AGENDA

•  Items may be removed from the agenda once published upon the recommendation of the Board President or the Superintendent of Schools. 

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I did not vote for the Principal evaluation formula - 60% based on management performance, and 40% based on student achievement. Student achievement means 'test scores.'

Basing 40% of a Principal's or teacher's evaluation on student test  scores is absurd. We are turning our children into objects to be exploited for 30 pieces of silver.
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Macarena Hernandez, "Test Pressure is Getting to Our Schools: It's Inspiring Cheaters and Stifling Real Learning," Editorial, Dallas Morning News, July 28, 2006

"When I was teaching sophomore English in 1998, one of my students, a stocky 16-year-old football player, came up to me one day after class to say he wanted to transfer out. His last English teacher, he said, spent much more time preparing her class for the state's standardized assessment test, mostly by having students bubble in sample tests. He had decided my class, where we analyzed poetry and wrote essays constantly, wasn't going to help him pass the test. "If I fail, Miss, it's going to be all your fault."

--From Collateral Damage - How High-Stakes Testing Corrupts America's Schools - Harvard Education Press

"In our zeal to raise test scores, we have corrupted the very concept of education." 

"...there is mounting evidence that our our poor and minority students are actually being hurt by high-stakes testing."