Superintendent Mike Miles detailed district goals, accomplishments, and challenges during last night’s presentation of the 2015–16 District Action Plan to board members.
Citing the positive momentum generated from the district’s major initiatives, Miles told board members that the district plans to largely stay the course in the 2015–16 school year. He said the draft Accelerated Campus Excellence (ACE) Plan, which would incentivize effective teachers to voluntarily relocate and work at struggling district schools, is the main planned new initiative next school year.
Miles briefed board members on the top 10 staff accomplishments of the 2014–15 school year. The accomplishments include:
- Opening the school year with the lowest number of teacher vacancies on record;
- Implemented the Teacher Excellence Initiative, which is believed to be one of the most innovative teacher evaluation compensation plans in the country;
- Maintaining the strongest financial position in the district’s history;
- Developing a Comprehensive Facilities Plan that aligns the district’s goals in the areas of early childhood, school choice, and career-tech-ed with structural needs and demographic shifts.
Miles also laid out key challenges facing the district, including transformation fatigue and long-term substitutes. He said the district would continue to work towards addressing these challenges in the upcoming year.
Miles said the District Action Plan is a part of Destination 2020, with the goal remaining that, by the year 2020, Dallas ISD will have the highest college- and career-ready percentage of graduates of any large urban district in the nation.
“This is the most important work of our time, and our kids don’t have a lot of time,” Miles said. “Changes on the margins are not what we have been about over the last three years. We are looking to close the achievement gap and really have college and career readiness for our kids.”
