DMN: African Americans Choosing to Leave Dallas ISD

June 7, 2010

(Guest Post by Matthew Ladner)

Must read story from the Dallas Morning News. Important piece of context that the DMN failed to mention: DISD has been an academic train wreck for decades, especially for African-Americans. A quick look at Texas Education Agency reports reveals that only 5.1% of DISD African-Americans received a “criterion score” on the SAT or ACT, which if memory serves would qualify the student to attend a moderately selective university.

The story contains multiple hints of battles over patronage, and academically, it is hard for me to think of thousands of African-American children going to school somewhere other than DISD as anything less than a net positive. If the Texas legislature were to improve the state’s charter school law, and to pass measures to create private choice options, it would be the equivalent of sending a rescue flotilla to the Titanic.