Ours isn’t the only city that’s about to have a big debate over who should control the public schools. The Dallas Morning News reported this morning that that city’s mayor, Tom Leppert, is considering a campaign to take control from the school board.
Dallas is the twelfth-largest school district in the country. If it switched from school board rule to rule by the mayor, it would join the ranks of a small but high-profile group of cities that includes (in addition to New York) D.C., Boston, and Chicago. Leppert reportedly talked the idea over with at least one state lawmaker and a business leader, and his chief of staff told the News that he will consider anything that helps children.
Reaction in Dallas so far seems to range from encouragement to angst. A comment on the News’ schools blog displays the latter:
Posted by Horrified @ 11:27 AM Mon, Feb 23, 2009I just had a horrible thought. Does Leppert think that since Geogre is back in town, that the ex-pres might like a job running a No Child Left Behind school district?