8/1/13
Dallas ISD tries to keep teachers from leaving for other districts just weeks before school starts | Dallasnews.com - News for Dallas, Texas - The Dallas Mor…
dallasnews
SportsDay
GuideLIVE
FD Luxe
neighborsgo
Hello, Tony77019*
OBITS
Subscriber Services
CLASSIFIEDS
AUTOS
JOBS
FORECAST
CRIME
EDUCATION
INVESTIGATIONS
REAL ESTATE
Sign Out
SHOPPING
101
NEWS
COMMUNITY
Member Center
STATE
NATION/WORLD
TRAFFIC
POLITICS
Dallas ISD tries to keep teachers from leaving for other
districts just weeks before school starts
2
2
0
Share
0
AA
By MATTHEW HAAG
Staff Writer
mhaag@dallasnews.com
Published: 30 July 2013 09:55 PM
Updated: 30 July 2013 10:17 PM
Dallas ISD is trying to stop teachers from bolting to other districts with only weeks to go before students return.
The district recently sent an email to more than 150 Texas districts asking them not to hire DISD teachers who missed the district’s July 12 deadline to resign.
State law only allows teachers to quit without penalty between the end of the school year and 45 days before the first day of school.
And Dallas ISD has made clear it will report teachers who try to leave for an area district.
“We sent this letter to notify other districts that we would adhere to the law set by the state,” said Carmen Darville, DISD’s personnel chief. “It is important to
adhere to the deadline as it allows districts to have an accurate picture of true vacancy needs in preparation for the first day of instruction for students.”
Educators who leave shortly before school resumes put districts in a bind. Dallas ISD started recruiting teachers for the 2013-14 school year in the spring. By this
time, school officials have said, the best teachers already have jobs.
Dallas ISD struggled to fill vacancies at the beginning of last school year, after a slew of teachers quit during the summer. The departures continued during
Superintendent Mike Miles’ first year. From July to February, 734 DISD teachers voluntarily quit — the highest number during that period in at least the last six
years, a Dallas Morning News analysis found.
In March and April, Dallas ISD also offered an incentive to educators who announced their resignations at that time. Teachers received between $750 and $2,000,
and 279 teachers accepted the deal in the first round of incentives.
The district had 480 teacher vacancies as of July 22, down from 1,444 about the same time last year, spokesman Jon Dahlander said. The district employs about
9,800 teachers for 223 schools.
The district’s personnel department distributed the email to roughly 150 members of the North Central Texas Association of School Personnel Administrators. It
said in part: “We have received several resignation requests from teachers wanting to leave for neighboring districts. This is a friendly reach out to you to notify you
that we will not be releasing any Chapter 21 employees form [sic] their contracts this year.”
It means that if a Dallas ISD teacher leaves, the district will report him or her to Texas’ State Board for Educator Certification, which could sanction that teacher’s
certification.
DeEtta Culbertson, a spokeswoman with the Texas Education Agency, said she didn’t have an immediate answer on what sanctions the teachers could face and
how often districts refer teachers to the State Board for Educator Certification in these cases.
Darville, who joined DISD last year, said the district didn’t send a letter last year and she didn’t know about previous years. She said she also didn’t know how
many teachers were trying to leave DISD for another district.
While DISD can report the teachers to the state, the district cannot force them to stay. But a sanction on teacher’s certification can make it difficult for a teacher to
land a job.
“Our goal is to have as many classrooms staffed with quality teachers on the first day of school,” Darville said. “In order to do that, we must have an accurate count
of vacancies well in advance of the start of school.”
Follow Matthew Haag on Twitter at @matthewhaag.
Did you see something wrong in this story, or something missing? Let us know.
Comments
www.dallasnews.com/news/education/headlines/20130730-dallas-isd-tries-to-keep-teachers-from-leaving-for-other-districts-just-weeks-before-school-starts.ece…
1/2
8/1/13
Dallas ISD tries to keep teachers from leaving for other districts just weeks before school starts | Dallasnews.com - News for Dallas, Texas - The Dallas Mor…
To post a comment, log into your chosen social network and then add your comment below. Your comments are subject to our Terms of
Service and the privacy policy and terms of service of your social network. If you do not want to comment with a social network, please
consider writing a letter to the editor.
Hello! David (Logout)
Post your comments in the box below
Share to:
0 Comments
Post
RSS | Subscribe
www.dallasnews.com/news/education/headlines/20130730-dallas-isd-tries-to-keep-teachers-from-leaving-for-other-districts-just-weeks-before-school-starts.ece…
2/2