Let Me Sum Up

How Mayor Mike's magic petition will help the children of Dallas

Talked to someone in DISD this week about the mayor’s new can’t-miss education plan, the one designed to help the embattled school system overcome the enormous challenges it faces every day.

Whaaaat? You haven’t heard about Mike Rawlings’ new plan to help DISD? What rock have you been under, silly goose? Oh, my, it’s a wonderful strategy. It has everything: big pictureness, heart-warmidity, iPad compatibility (for the kids), je ne sais quoitude.

It’s a petition. An online petition. One you can sign. By typing your name.

What do you promise to support by signing this online petition?

That’s the brilliant part.

You promise to support the children. Not the adults. Not the old people. The teens, the tweens, the annoying 10-year-olds — pretty much everyone under 18 and above toddler age. The children.

Don’t believe me? Think that’s too “out there,” too “controversial” to be believed? Oh, ye of little faith. Come with me into the cyber world, and let’s read it together! “Every Dallas Kid Deserves a Great Education” the petition begins. I believe that is the petition’s headline, because why else would every word be capitalized? No matter — I agree!

Let’s read on: “They are all our kids.” Whoa. Gonna need a minute to digest that; also probably need to re-file my taxes and claim 158,000 dependents. “We Cannot Wait.” Don’t understand the New Capitalization Rules, but That’s Okay! Tell me what action to take, Mayor Mike!

[Author’s note: You get the idea. I’m pretending to be excited by this so as to mock it. Next the petition lists five tenets with which no one disagrees — like “Dallas cannot be a great city without great public schools” — the boldest aspect of which is that none of these complete sentences ends with a period. Then it gives the wording of the petition itself, which ostensibly says we’re all for quality and positive change but really is a poorly written and thinly veiled political backing of superintendent Mike Miles’ reforms. Back to the conceit of the column.]

That was fun and inspiring! I’m so glad I’m for change and quality. I know this is a big concern of all the North Dallas money people who have been so angered at people complaining about Miles’ reforms. They’re hoping this gets those reforms back on track and keeps mean John Wiley Price and the naysayers off everyone’s backs!

Which, to be truthful, I don’t understand. Because behind the scenes, most of the principals marked for discipline have been approached about accepting other positions in the district, given chances to find other jobs, or already announced plans to resign. By the time Mayor Mike and his friends Ctrl-F5 their ways to the petition, the actual number of principals who are terminated will seem pretty reasonable. The deal is done, in other words, and they missed the boat.

But good intentions are good! In fact, perhaps good intentions will inspire — and this is a long shot, I know, but hear me out — actions that matter or can someday make a difference. For example, investing heavily (in time, money and public attention) in early education programs, the ones that have no immediate payoff but are vital to changing the long-term educational prospects for a large urban district (as even Steve Blow knows).

You can call DISD and find out which ones you can support and how to do so. You can support public policy groups that fight for such causes. Or you can just let your representatives know cutting $223 million in pre-K programs since 2011 may not be the smartest idea ever.

Sorry, went a little negative Nellie on you. Let’s get back to my friend in DISD, the one who stands to benefit from the good intentions and strong quality change status quo-ing of Mayor Mike’s petition. What does he say?

Well, after he rolled his eyes so hard he bent the fabric of space-time in the room, he simply said, “Are you fucking kidding me?”

Retweets

But the Bush Library is so cool.

Another 30 killed in Iraq bombing. That makes 279 killed in one week. That's 2006 levels of violence. Time to worry. news.yahoo.com/car-bomb-other…

— Reza Aslan (@rezaaslan) May 22, 2013

You really need to read the Texas Tribune’s important stories on John Carona. Then you need to summarize them for me, because I’m very busy right now.

Gosh, if only the @texastribune would put a little effort into writing stuff about @johncarona. #txlege

— Harold Cook (@HCookAustin) May 22, 2013

State Sen. John Carona has been under fire lately. Would someone please tell me what it's all about?

Photo courtesy of John Carona's Office

State Sen. John Carona has been under fire lately. Would someone please tell me what it's all about?

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A+ for Plano

Surprising Dallas suburb makes new list of best college towns in U.S.

Southern Methodist University students at a football game

Southern Methodist University/Facebook

Dallas knows how to show out.

Dallas' spirited neighbor Plano has entered the spotlight as the No. 16 best midsize college town in the U.S., while Dallas ranks among the best largest college towns, a new study by WalletHub has proclaimed.

While Plano might not be thought of as a "college town," it is home to primary campuses of Collin College (Spring Creek Campus and the Courtyard Center); Collin College has an annual enrollment of over 60,000 students. To qualify for the study, a city must have a university or college population of at least 7,500 students.

To determine the best college towns, WalletHub analyzed 415 cities based on their "wallet-friendliness," social environment, and academic and economic opportunities for college graduates. Cities are ranked overall and are sorted into one of three population categories: large, midsize, and small cities.

Several North Texas cities were represented across the three rankings by population, but none ranked higher than Plano. This Dallas suburb ranked as the 54th best college town in the nation overall, and ranks as the third-best college town in Texas.

Out of the three key dimensions, Plano ranked highest for its academic and economic opportunities – landing 25th nationally. This category analyzed Plano's quality of higher education, the earning potential for college graduates, unemployment rates, job growth rates, the share of part-time jobs and median income of part-time workers, and more.

In the remaining two categories for its "social environment" and "wallet friendliness," Plano respectively ranked 223rd and 271st nationwide. The social environment ranking compared the number of students per capita, the share of single people, crime rates, and the number of cafés, breweries, festivals, and shopping centers per capita, among others; the wallet-friendliness category examined local housing costs, student loan debt per person, the adjusted cost of living for young people, and other financial factors.

"As student living expenses can reach over $39,000 per year, it’s important to find the most bang for your buck," the report's author wrote. "Therefore, it’s best to live in a city with a reasonable cost of living, along with good academic and work opportunities. The ideal city should also provide a fun social environment to help students deal with the stress of college."

Dallas ranked as the 35th best large college town in the U.S., and it ranked 108th overall regardless of city size.

This is how the rest of North Texas fared in the report:

Denton – No. 77 overall, No. 23 among midsize cities
Fort Worth – No. 100 overall, No. 31 among large cities
McKinney – No. 110 overall, No. 31 among midsize cities
Richardson – No. 139 overall, No. 57 among small cities
Irving – No. 141 overall, No. 39 among midsize cities
Carrollton – No. 150 overall, No. 42 among midsize cities
Arlington – No. 189 overall, No. 53 among large cities
Grand Prairie – No. 230 overall, No. 71 among midsize cities
Garland – No. 265 overall, No. 83 among midsize cities
Mesquite – No. 317 overall, No. 111 among midsize cities

Other top college towns in Texas
Austin once again topped the list as the No. 1 best college town in America, boosted by the city's wealth of local colleges and universities and the local economy. The Capital City has outshone obvious contenders like Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and Ann Arbor, Michigan, for five years in a row, and it also tops the large cities list.

According to the report's findings, Austin has the 15th best academic and economic opportunities for college students and graduates, and the 16th best social environment. WalletHub commends Austin for having one of the lowest unemployment rates in the nation and the "34th-best annual job growth rate," while also offering students ample ways to "de-stress after class."

"On top of that, Austin ranks 22nd in the nation for the quality of higher education among more than 400 cities in our study," the report said. "It also has the 112th-cheapest in-state tuition (including room and board), at $34,651 per year."

Four other cities in the Lone Star State appeared on the overall list of America's best college towns: College Station (No. 37), San Antonio (No. 72), Houston (No. 73), and Lubbock (No. 83).

In the rankings by city size, San Antonio ranked as the No. 2 best large college town in Texas and 23rd in the U.S., with Houston right behind as the third-best statewide and 24th nationwide.

San Marcos, a college town between Austin and San Antonio, ranked as the No. 2 best small college town in Texas, and 54th best among the small colleges nationally. In the overall list regardless of city size, San Marcos ranked 132nd nationally.

The top 10 best college towns in America for 2027 are:

No. 1 – Austin
No. 2 – Ann Arbor, Michigan
No. 3 – Charlottesville, Virginia
No. 4 – Raleigh, North Carolina
No. 5 – Atlanta
No. 6 – Tampa, Florida
No. 7 – San Diego
No. 8 – Scottsdale, Arizona
No. 9 – Orlando
No. 10 – Charleston, South Carolina

college towns reports wallethub dallas plano