02/02/06   Wilmer Hutchins Independent School District

Wilmer Hutchins was a sleepy little rural school district until it was forced to take in pupils from far South Dallas - effectively desegregating the district. 

As a side bar to of the desegregation of the DISD, the impact on Wilmer and Hutchins was to turn them from bedroom communities into industrial centers = including a state prison, an intermodal rail facility, etc.

Saddled with bad schools, what little local support there was for the WHISD was outweighed by involvement of outsiders.  So, it became a playground for corruption and mismanagement.   For a Wilmer or Hutchins parent - there was no upside.

No matter what the WHISD did, it would always be subservient to South Dallas.  By the time the State took it over, it was a foregone conclusion that it would go back into the DISD, and the various appointees reflected that.  Without leadership from Wilmer and Hutchins, all the usual suspects took over.

Wilmer Hutchins was a classic failure of forced desegregation. It imploded the district itself.

WHISD was never more than the bastard stepchild of the DISD, a place to dump Dallas students. An abortion from day one.

We had a factory and land in Hutchins on Dowdy Ferry Road that we sold before this happened.  Basically, an ex-urban town was turned into a part of South Dallas.  With all the chicanery that involves.

So, Lew Blackburn serving on the DISD School Board, while he is an employee of WHISD (and signs checks for WHISD) --  none of this surprises me.

Sad part is, there were parents and teachers down there who wanted the kids to get a good education !

It was counter-flow bussing = from ghetto out to Mayberry RFD.   Extrapolate that.

Chip Northrup