TSPR Dallas Independent School District

Appendix C
DISTRICT ADMINISTRATOR AND
SUPPORT STAFF SURVEY RESULTS

A. Overview

B. Tables (Survey Questions)

C. Narrative Comments

PART C: NARRATIVE COMMENTS
The following comments convey the District Administrator and Support Staff's perception of Dallas Independent School District and do not reflect the findings or opinion of the Comptroller or review team. These are the actual comments received for each focus area.

Schools continue to work and produce at high levels while disregarding an incompetent, unknowledgeable school board and undirected superintendents. We have personnel, from high-level superintendency openings to teachers, who are sought-after in other districts and states, yet we have to go outside the district (board policy) for some of our positions. They continue to be a "we" and "they" mentality, instead of supporting us. They act like they all have to monitor and regulate consequences only. The best superintendents and interim superintendents have been from within.
There should be no percentage of special education as too many or too few. It's like telling a doctor he has too many patients on insulin. He can't prescribe any more. We are "addressed" for this, so many special students remain unidentified, thus unserved. Special education is not in general appropriate for inclusion, which TEA wants.
We are already dealing with inner city challenges of ADHD, crack babies, alcohol and drugs. We work with social problems, lack of parenting, lack of money and community support. We are overcrowded in old facilities. We are understaffed and held to expectations that everyone can reach 90 percent in all subjects. We need a reality check.
I disagreed that TAAS has become the major accountability factor in measuring learning.
I think the present board members do not have the qualifications to make educational decisions.
LEP students will be the major challenge for Dallas.
With who and what we are given to work with, school does a fantastic job. There are 50-70 positions in Central Office that could be eliminated and monies given to schools. This would improve service to students and scores more. There needs to be an efficient process of getting rid of dead weight "good ole boys and gals." Quit moving them from one office to another.
This is about the fifth survey I have completed in my more than 20 years of working in the district. Let's hope something happens to make improvements this time.
Teachers are paying for ink for computers and supplies. I bought $62 in supplies for a classroom and was not reimbursed. We are having to do sock hops to raise money. We don't know where that money is going!
The district has no true regard of teachers' performance in relation to compensating them for all the work that they do. Raises are given but at the expense of teachers having to fully pay for their health insurance. This will eventually cause negative feelings in teachers, which may result in them leaving the district. The message I get from actions like this is that the district doesn't care.
This district has always been top-heavy. Resources are needed at the local companies. The buildings are in need of updating or repair. Technology is outdated in the district.
The Health Care Plan is terrible! They need to take care of their staff. I earned less this year than last year due to a health insurance increase!
Give us benefits! Don't give us a raise then take out more deductions than we got in the raise! This is not acceptable in the business world.
Why can't we get state insurance?
Administrators work many hours beyond what they get paid, yet, I make less per day as an administrator than I would as a teacher due to more workdays. Do you backstab people who try to improve themselves?
The lack of staff development is a detrimental problem. Teachers and campus administrators need the continuing education, especially with the new findings in brain research. Also, it is disheartening when teachers get a raise from the state but campus administrators do not, then the district turns around and shuns campus administrators with salary raises. I understand we are a not-for-profit organization, however, we pay for health insurance and other "perks" that other districts "give."
This district is large, and in light of its size and mission, it does well with its role of teaching and learning. Students are safe, emotionally secure and there is regularly an atmosphere conducive to learning. Please note this is a full-time task. This district's problem is with the Board of Trustees vision and their partisan politics. They are historically more concerned about special interest groups, and kids are last. They will not let an instructional leader/CEO operate the district.
The challenges of running a building become difficult when a person has to deal in human resources, or 3700 Ross. Nobody returns phone calls or answers questions. Then if you throw in the purchasing department and maintenance/custodian service, you have a big mess. It's as if you have to fight downtown to get things done. Shouldn't 3700 Ross and the above-mentioned groups support the schools?
A true instructional focus for all children college-bound or work-bound is not being met. Individual campuses work very hard, but the quality of support from central and area administration is extremely limited. Employees who are not qualified or equipped are hired in positions that campuses are to look towards for help. No help is given. Departments such as Reading, ESL, Special Education or Social Studies are also ineffective. Another concern is the movement of campus administration from year to year. Successful schools maintain their staff for several years. This allows time to build programs and support for the programs.
Dallas ISD is doing a remarkable job in trying to keep the educational performance at a high level.
We can teach computer skills. We just can't get computers to teach on at North Dallas High School.
Dallas ISD is not interested in educating minority children. They (Board) are only interested in controlling the billion-dollar budget. How can Whites say they know what is best for others? Don't you know what is best for you?
Staffing takes too long.
Ninety percent of Dallas ISD honestly cares about all students and their education.
Training of clerical personnel needs to be "improved!"
In elementary schools, we must have two to four persons to meet the workload. This district must get more help in the offices.
In brief, it is my opinion that the majority of Dallas schools are operating at a relatively high standard of operation overall. However, the amalgamation of personalities present in the school board creates an effective obstruction to any real change. This, regardless of who the superintendent is, has been the predominant plague for ameliorating efficiency and effectiveness in Dallas.
Dallas ISD needs student accountability; more teachers sensitive to student's background; more Hispanic personnel in areas of counseling, teaching and administration; and money/financial accountability (e.g. school carnival monies, petty cash and fundraisers).
There are too many secretaries, aides and instructionalists at central staff.
There are too many top-heavy positions and not enough teachers in the classrooms. The ratio of 30 students to one teacher is useless for educational purposes.
There is not enough help offered to the schools, such as maintenance, custodial, a test coordinator for each school, and a reading and math specialist in each school.
Payroll Department has improved dramatically this year.
Personnel processing and pay problems for experienced administrators are big problem areas.
The Dallas Reading Program is exemplary!
SBDM Budgeting is too limited in scope. Most items in the budget are non-discretionary.
I am very proud to have worked at Dallas ISD for 12 years. The staff I've been associated with is exceptional. However, because the district is so large, many procedures are cumbersome.
If we could have some consistent leadership, maybe we could do a better job.
New personnel staff is not in tune with the needs of students in different parts of the district.
We most definitely need to align our resources. There is too much time being wasted on just "being confused."
Our foremost priority should be the future of our students (not political agendas).
Teacher training needs to address commitment, integrity, loyalty, and dedication.
Thank you for giving me the opportunity to have my opinion known. In spite of the district's disarray, our campus functions very well.
The district does a good job for the diversity of the total population.
I work in the district because I know we are doing a great job of educating children (the whole child).
We can't measure all of the successes we encounter in a day's time.
To have a custodian, a school must have 16,000 square feet. A school of 64,000 square feet (such as mine) only has four custodians.
High demands on "off the clock" time continue with little recognition of the extra time and efforts of administrative staff. Inequitable pay is obvious to those who have more than two years experience. New administrators are making the same pay as veteran employees.
The superintendent states the Central Office is there to serve the schools but I don't see it. It seems as if we are at their mercy and on their time schedule.
Personnel/employee benefits are a mess. They are responsible for the loss of good staff. The schools are doing well in spite of the Central Office but how much better could we be if they did a good job?
Elementary schools are overcrowded, 20-50 percent over capacity. Also, class sizes are consistently too large.
Support staff has no incentive to do an "excellent" job when they get paid as the next guy who does a "lousy" job. A great evaluation gets you nothing, no raises.
Investigate the contract, student achievement (credits earned), and financial commitments made with Community Education Partners, Inc. (CEP) and you will have your eyes opened to the real tragedy of this district-corruption, incompetence, etc.
Members of the Board of Trustees are incompetent and manipulate administrators to do as they want things to happen. Most of the budget is abused by central administration in the departments instead of given to the area offices or the campuses. The Human Resources Department needs to be completely overhauled and restaffed. The political stronghold of the district is controlled by specific community members.
The school board needs to focus on improving student achievement for all students. Our limited English proficient students need extra resources and possibly extra instructional time to help them bridge the language gap and thereby the achievement gap. Our teachers need to have high expectations for our low socio-economic students and communicate more effectively with these parents. Administrators need to monitor classroom instruction more effectively and promote best practices.
The interim superintendent is the best we've had in a long time.
I strongly feel that the focus, direction, and actions of the top administrators and school board members are not in the best interest of the children in Dallas ISD. This proves to me that the children of Dallas ISD are not a priority.
Dallas has an excellent Staff Development Department. A high percentage of the teachers attend these sessions and learn new techniques/strategies. I believe that many of our teachers work two to three times as hard and as smart as teachers in the suburbs. Dallas test results do not always reflect the above because Dallas has many children that come from other countries and enroll in school at third grade and above. Many of these children have not ever been to school and do not have any support at home. Additionally, Dallas has a high mobility of students who move a lot, especially in low socio-economic areas.
We need a good leader (superintendent) and we need to start listening to the students more.
We need funds for hiring more teachers.
Classrooms are overcrowded!
Most of these answers reflect the survey of the district as a whole and in no way reflect the performance of individual schools.
The district has many loyal and competent employees who need directions and stability from the central administration. The turnover of superintendents and the number of administrators in Central Office must discontinue. There are too many associates and assistant superintendents and too few individuals that realize the importance of campus leaders and employees.
I think the district has many wonderful qualified teachers, administrators and other personnel but a lack of good consistent leadership at the top has allowed some problems to go unchecked. Facility maintenance is a chief concern.
The district needs to improve the salaries for the support staff.
It is a shame that while working for the district, you still qualify for welfare benefits. All support staff should have at least a starting salary of $20,000 a year.
More money should be spent on education for the children and staff (faculty) instead of all the monies being spent for administration employees.
Human Resource Department needs to be revamped (organizational structure). The process for hiring personnel is too slow.
The bureaucracy of the district is such that nothing can be done in a "timely" manner. Money misuse is taken out on the educational process. The district would probably be better served if broken up into smaller districts similar to what San Antonio did, so that the educational success can continue more rapidly. We also need to have less interference by the school board and a superintendent that stays longer and is more effective.
The Human Resources Office is terrible.
At conferences, DISD has the saddest booth.
Purchasing department needs help.
Area offices need new blood.
Central Office and schools do the very best with the number of staff members allotted by the budget. However, I would venture to say that many job responsibilities are not humanly possible due to an immense workload. They are performed in a quality-filled manner as soon as workers can get to them, i.e. office managers, cafeteria servers, Central Office staff.