Darryl Baker
Jesse Diaz, Jr.
                             

01/31/07  DISD being run like a Banana Republic.

When you have unlimited public monies to waste, the sad reality is that most bureaucrats will do just that.  When you have a leader who is asleep at the wheel, you have a billion dollar operation on a slippery slope.

Don't know about you, but I am disgusted with the weekly, if not daily scandals and embarrassments from the DISD.   To make matters worse, the silence from the School Board is deafening.  Can you imagine the directors of a corporation tolerating the kind of mismanagement we are getting from Dr. Hinojosa and his staff?  Not only are the trustees tolerating the mayhem, they seem to be condoning if not approving.

The DISD is like a loaded bus in free fall off a steep cliff.  The crash is inevitable, and there's nothing to soften the landing.  If it was just the administration going down with the bus, there would be no loss.  Unfortunately, the bus is packed full of kids who need an education.

Who's in charge?  It certainly is not Dr. Hinojosa.  It certainly is not any school board member, much less the President, Jack Lowe.  Nobody accepts the blame.  I get the feeling it's because nobody connected to the DISD really thinks there's much wrong.  It's not like we've got a trustee or school administrator hooked up with a computer company that has an exclusive contract with the DISD.  Oh, wait, that was last year's debacle.

What bothers me as much as anything is how Dr. H hides behind that Celso Martinez.  You don't see Mary Suhm ducking behind some assistant mouth piece when there's something amiss at City Hall.  Hate to keep harping on Dr. H's outrageous salary, but he makes a lot more than our City Manager.  For that matter, they both make more than anyone in Congress.

Adding to the bizarreness of the situation, Celso Martinez announces that two principals have until High Noon (Monday) to fall on their sword.

Two DISD principals told to resign or else Exclusive: Credit card investigation snares top educators Sunday, January 28, 2007 By TAWNELL D. HOBBS and KENT FISCHER / The Dallas Morning News

Two principals have been asked to resign and another will be reassigned as part of the Dallas school district's ongoing investigation into the misuse of district credit cards.    "They have until Monday to come back and give us their resignations," DISD spokesman Celso Martinez said Saturday of the principals who were asked to leave in lieu of facing a due-process hearing for termination.    Dwain Govan of A. Maceo Smith High School and Ardis McCann of Spruce High School were asked to resign, DISD officials confirmed. ...

Guess what?  The two principals decided to live another day.

DISD principals don't quit before cutoff District poised to terminate pair in credit card abuse Monday, January 29, 2007 TAWNELL D. HOBBS / The Dallas Morning News

Two Dallas school principals, asked to resign in connection with an investigation into district credit card spending, did not do so by the deadline, likely setting into motion the district's plan to begin termination proceedings.    Dwain Govan of A. Maceo Smith High School and Ardis McCann of Spruce High School were given until Monday to turn in their resignations in lieu of a due process hearing for termination.    DISD Superintendent Michael Hinojosa said late Monday afternoon that the principals did not turn in resignations. District officials refused to comment further, calling the resignation requests a personnel matter. ... Mr. Govan could not be reached Monday, but said over the weekend that he's been wronged and that he considers himself the "fall guy" because the district feels pressure to show it is taking action on credit card abuses. ... District officials have not said whether the principals were being disciplined because of their own spending or because of the way they supervised the use of credit cards by people in their schools.  ...

Isn't that interesting?  Tawnell Hobbs points out District officials have not said whether the principals were being disciplined because of their own spending or because of the way they supervised.  How ironic that would be for two principals to lose their jobs due to their poor supervision, when the superintendent who makes over $300 K annually has been doing a **** poor job of supervising himself.  It was also interesting to have a direct quote from Dr. H.  Wonder where Celso Martinez was when Tawnell Hobbs was talking to Dr. H.

It's hard to be hopeful for a happy ending in all this mess.

sb