Wilmer-Hutchins fiasco

Ohmigosh! The number of clichés that one could rattle off the tongue that would more than apply to the sad fiasco that is the power struggle within the Wilmer-Hutchins school district.
How about “Power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely?” Or “Cheaters never prosper?” Or “An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure?”
Or even “Meet the new boss, same as the old boss?”
In effect, by thumbing their nose at the Texas Education Agency and showing their backside to the state management team Monday night, the trustees of the W-H CISD took a giant step closer to being non-existent – as a ruling body and as a functioning district – by firing the state-appointed superintendent and taking the entire matter to the courts. I’m not sure that playing “chicken” with Austin is the correct move for a district with such a horrible history and track record.
In fact, I’m positive that it’s a huge negative. TEA has the power to wave a wand and make the Wilmer-Hutchins CISD disappear.
Turmoil is nothing new to Wilmer-Hutchins; it has been part of its fabric since the mid-1990s. But it has gotten SO out of control that nothing short of complete dissolution of the district will be able to solve anything.
It is more than clear that systemic cheating took place on the state evaluation tests in Wilmer-Hutchins. It was far more than a few crib sheets and barely audible whispers among students. This hasn’t been really denied by anyone in the district; all that has happened is plenty of finger-pointing to campus principals and subordinate teachers.
But this cliché MORE than applies: “Fish rots from the head down.” To think that a few teachers simply took it upon themselves to have initiated this course of action, or that the principals were solely responsible, is to believe in fairy tales. These things do not operate in vacuums; others MUCH higher up HAD to have known.
And in all things involving school district policy, it ultimately falls upon the shoulders of the elected representatives. That board must assume full responsibility; it does the hiring and it does the firing.
This school board was the one that rehired Dr. Charles Matthews as its superintendent AFTER the initial state takeover of the district (a direct result of Matthews’ first tenure as W-H superintendent). This school board refused to officially dismiss Dr. Matthews after his SECOND (not first) indictment for felony charges for tampering with official documents and falsifying attendance data.
There has been ample disclosure, through other investigations, where people (often directly connected through family ties) have been receiving paychecks without working one New York minute to obtain that stipend. Last spring’s torrential rains exposed how fundamental repairs and upkeep for campuses were never done – either properly or at all.
Yet Wilmer-Hutchins is one of the leading districts in the state for receiving state funding to help it do its job. It is clearly the clichéd statement of “chasing good money after bad.” Those property wealthy school districts, tired of losing money to the “Robin Hood” system of school financing, always cite Wilmer-Hutchins as the poster child for waste and corruption – the reason to trash the entire thing.
Sadly, W-H is a district in decline. Student enrollment has fallen in the past decade and the property values which account for what it can spend in the budget are the lowest in Dallas County by a wide margin. The district is totally beholden to the state for its continued financial existence but is now refusing to take its supervisory medicine.
One of the biggest blunders committed by the W-H trustees has been the failure to properly set a legal tax rate by which it can operate. Not for a year; but for five decades! One year would be an oversight; five decades is total incompetence.
On May 7, voters in the district will be asked to establish a tax rate of $1.58 per $100 valuation that will allow W-H CISD to continue operating. Without any advanced polling, I’d venture to say it’s an iffy proposition at best. The last vote by those voters completely rejected a needed bond package to upgrade various campuses – not into the 21st century but merely in the 90s. Voters spoke loudly and it was all about a lack of confidence in current management.
That same message could well be delivered a second time and if it happens, it will be lights out for the district. Wilmer-Hutchins will be forced to return to its last legally adopted tax rate (90 cents set in 1956) and the TEA management team has already said that won’t be enough money to operate the school district on any level.
The reason the W-H situation matters to other folks in the Best Southwest will be a matter of fallout. An influx of students, of ANY number, into other districts (mainly Lancaster, Dallas and Ferris) could topple delicately balanced budgets and education plans. And if the walls of the W-H CISD fall, it will happen quickly and other districts and communities will be forced to deal with it.
In the end, the truth about W-H CISD will be summed up in this cliché: “You have no one to blame but yourself.” The residents within the district chose time and again to retain these board members who have made all these bad decisions, they chose not to question the policies, and chose, ultimately, to look the other way when their children were being undereducated compared to everyone around them.
What will be SO ironic is that if the tax rate question fails May 7, those citizens will be responsible for the demise of the district.
Perhaps … as it should be.