Joyce Foreman, vigilant Trustee of the Dallas Independent School District, stood up and said “no” to yet another charter school in her district. She persuaded the City Council member representing her district to say no. The charter was not approved. Foreman wants better public schools in her district, not a marketplace of schools. For her courage and foresight, she was blasted by the Dallas Morning News, one of the most conservative editorial boards in Texas.
You would think that an elected representative of the district would know more about its needs than the editorial board of a corporate-friendly newspaper. Joyce Foreman understands that a great city needs a great public school system, not a marketplace of choices. That may work for shoes and toothpaste, but not for children.
Joyce Foreman speaks for the people of her district. Stay fearless, Joyce. Ignore the editorial writer at the Dallas Morning News, who probably went to prep school.
Diane Ravitch's blog 
good advice and another great line:
….That may work for shoes and toothpaste, but not for children.
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You nailed it. The battle between Dallas’ “local business leaders” and their media shills rages on – with only a handful of Trustees fighting the good fight! Thanks for the coverage!
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I have been trying to figure out just what st. Louis now has with Tod Robberson from Dallas…..did he change his views somewhere along the line, encountering an idiotic superintendent named Mike Miles? I was making some noise in a current affairs thread, but linking him in search with Joyce Foreman took me to a 2012 article praising him for his support of teachers, including one his daughter liked. Robberson questions Miles’ assertion that teacher effectiveness plateaus after 3-5 years on the job (a convenient stance for a TFA supporter) I am waiting to see if his more obvious history of enthusiasm for charters remains dominant.
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Robberson blew with the wind. He generally obeyed his corporate overlords.
In fact, many blame him for the loss of DISD’s one hope for a decent school board member, Kyle Renard, because of how he chose to cover a mailer she sent out before the election–a mailer deemed by almost everyone to be wholly accurate.
She lost, “reformers” won and Tod left town. Dallas schoolchildren are stuck with Renard’s opponent, but not Tod! Thanks, Tod.
Teachers in Dallas felt Tod betrayed them too many times. Like Miles, we’re glad to see the back of him.
Enjoy the winters in St. Louis, Tod. You certainly earned them.
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http://www.disdblog.com/2012/10/26/thank-you-tod-robberson/
http://educationblog.dallasnews.com/2012/11/tod-robberson-dallas-isds-mike-miles-is-irresponsible-and-outright-wrong-in-faulting-teachers-for-districts-problems.html/
http://dallasmorningviewsblog.dallasnews.com/2015/06/mike-miles-double-standard-on-hiring-firing-and-gauging-professional-leadership.html/
http://educationblog.dallasnews.com/2012/10/dmn-editorial-writer-tod-robberson-has-some-credibility-issues-with-mike-miles-disd-superintendent.html/
FAST FORWARD:
http://www.stltoday.com/news/local/metro/meet-tod-robberson-new-post-dispatch-editorial-page-editor/article_bf5f041c-ad9c-5ca7-94ad-a43cf5d95174.html
Give Tod a chance in St. Louis. Read his body of work from Dallas. A very sensible, open-minded thinker. Hopefully, editorial board for Dispatch will focus more on education, particularly public education.
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@True Reformer: When it mattered most (the school board election), Tod’s article about Renard’s wholly accurate mailer backed the party line.
It’s what you do when it matters most that defines your character.
Tod defined his character for all of Dallas to see.
He can think about that when he’s sweltering in the summer and scraping ice of his windshield in the winter.
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I have known Joyce Foreman, Dallas ISD Trustee, for about a decade. She is dedicated to children, studies issues, and is the strongest advocate for absolute transparency on our local Dallas ISD School Board. What else do we need? Those refusing to support her work toward more transparency are funded by people giving election donations who do not want transparency.
What does that say about current events in Dallas ISD?
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