6/24/21, Testimony for 5:45 pm Hearing on 2021/22 proposed Dallas ISD Annual Budget

You can find the 2021-22 Budget this hearing is about at https://www.dallasisd.org/cms/lib/TX01001475/Centricity/Domain/78/FY_2021-2022_Proposed_Budget_June_Board_Meeting061421.pdf

Please join me in asking for more transparency in this $2.26 billion budget. This presentation can be found at www.Dallasisd.us.

The main weakness of this 565-page budget document is that it does not send you to a spreadsheet with each of the 237 schools listed in a different row, and, in the columns, each of these cost items for each school listed in these 565 pages, including average student cost given for each school. This failure handicaps significantly the ability of the public to compare schools, and budget allocations between schools. Additional columns of data for all schools should be included to help in these judgments such as:

• Average teacher full-time equivalent salary and average years for the teachers at each school. It is a powerful indicator of what is happening at a school.
• Both teacher and student demographic profiles for each school should fill several columns and include poverty and other factors for students including TAG status and handicaps.
• Data on the current academic standing for each school should also be given in several additional columns.

Placing such data into a spreadsheet will significantly improve Budget transparency!

Most critically, it will improve the attractiveness of Dallas ISD for parents searching for a school for their children. Such transparency reflects a school district proud of each of its schools, and always seeking improvement. It would show that the highest performing schools do not require the highest budget allocation per student, but that two of the best high schools in the nation, that we are honored to have in DISD, are also among the schools with the lowest per-student budget allocations. DISD must continue to improve, but we can be proud of the progress made! We must continue to spread the good news, and have our enrollment grow.

This is the message I will be giving at 5:45 p.m. tomorrow in the 15 minutes allocated to a public hearing on this proposed DISD Budget. With Covid-19 declining, DISD now is back to requiring you to be physically present in the Board Room at 5151 Samuell Blvd in Dallas. Call
972-925-3720 today before 5 pm if you want to sign up to speak at this public hearing on the budget. The monthly Board meeting is scheduled to follow at 6 pm. Please join me in asking for greater transparency. This planned presentation will be posted at www.DallasISD.us.