As Dallas ISD prepares to serve students, hence comes another tale from the DISD folly files. According to internal documents shared publicly by DISD employees, the district is offering an incentive of $500 to employees who submit proof they are fully vaccinated. The information is supposed to help the district with contact tracing should a positive COVID contact occur. Some wary teachers suggested the incentive is also a good way for the district to determine who is fully vaccinated and who is not without having to ask employees outright. Smart thinking, but that’s an article for another time. Whatever the reason, the district is spending about $11 million on this venture.
Once again, Dallas ISD has millions of dollars to spend on everything except student achievement. Dallas is a historically poorly performing district despite the national recognition of its Townview and Booker T. Washington campuses. According to the 2018-2019 district report card, only 40% of the more than 150,000 students perform at the Meets Grade Level or Above designation. Among African American students, that number drops to 28%. African American students make up about 25% of the entire district population. With performance statistics like these, couldn’t $11 million dollars be better spent elsewhere?
How about a compromise? Give a $250 incentive to teachers and spend $5.5 million on improving literacy districtwide, maybe? I don’t mean to suggest COVID is not serious, or vaccinations are not important. Both are. But literacy was important before COVID and will still be after we move on to whatever germ or bug that comes next. I am not sure what DISD’s agenda is with this incentive, nor do I care. What I do care about is yet another money dump on something that will do nothing to improve student achievement, which is the reason DISD exists.
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