A couple of years ago, when my son was in kindergarten, George W. Bush was his guy. He enjoyed seeing Bush on TV, speaking from the podium, and handling official business. Maybe it was because the President was speaking in words that he could stand, I don't know, but he was a self admitted George Bush fan. "Is George Bush a good President?' I would ask him. "Yes" he would answer every time. Hard to believe with him growing up in a house with solidly progressive parents, but our son loved him some Dubya. "Dad have you ever met George Bush?" he asked me while sitting at the table one day. "No son I haven't," I said puzzled by his question. "Then why do you always say that he takes your money?" he inquired. All I could do was laugh and shake my head. It really makes all the sense in the world that our little fella hearted the POTUS. He was born soon after 9/11, and George W. Bush was the only President he had known in his lifetime. He realized -as a student of current events- that being the President of the United States ...

On Monday, Dallas County Community Colleges District celebrated the opening of the Eastfield College campus in Pleasant Grove.  Leaders and citizens alike were excited about the new campus at 802 S. Buckner Blvd. Not only will the campus be used for educating Dallas citizens, but it will also house the Southeast Dallas Chamber of Commerce, the Southeast Dallas Hispanic Chamber of Commerce, and the Wilkinson Center. Eastfield Pleasant Grove already has 300 students registered for the Fall Session.  The theme of the day was how the Dallas workforce lags behind in the area of education, and that DCCCD is the largest college system in Texas.  The citizens of Southeast Dallas have another landmark to be proud of, and hopefully the city as a whole will embrace it.

A continuation of Nature Sargent's post regarding bullies. Myth #6: Large schools or classes are conducive to bullying. Primarily, research suggests there is no correlation between bullying and increased class size.  There is the suggestion of a correlation between increased size in schools and classrooms leading to less bullying because of greater opportunities to develop friendships.  The more children there are, the more likely your child will find someone who is like-minded. Myth #7: Most bullying occurs off school grounds. Of course bullying happens mostly at school.  School is where children spend most of their time around peers.  It goes without saying that some incidents happen in the neighborhood, apartment complex, and other places where children gather while unsupervised.  However the majority of bullying incidents are on school property. Myth #8: Bullying affects a small number of students. The National Association of School Psychologists estimated 160,000 children stay home from school daily because they are afraid.  Parents, if your child constantly complains of not feeling well and there are no accompanying symptoms such as fever, sweating, or vomiting, you should ask them if there is another reason why they don’t want to go to school. During the course of the school year, almost ...

By Nature M. Sargent Greetings beautiful people! What’s up with all the bullying?  For the purpose of this article, we’ll use Dr. Dan Olweus’ definition of bullying.  Dr. Olweus, a psychology professor at Norway's University of Bergen, defines bullying as an accumulation of negative actions, occurring repeatedly and over time, directed toward one student by another student or students. There are many myths about bullies and their victims that parents, students and even teachers believe.  Dr. Olweus has identified through his research 10 specific myths I will outline and hopefully you can add this information to your parenting tool box. Myth #1 Bullies suffer from insecurity and low self-esteem. They pick on others to feel more important. Research suggests bullies have average or above average self-esteem.   The real issue is lack of compassion, empathy, neglectful parenting and uncorrected aggressive behavior. Bullies must have aggressive behavior patterns stopped through effective classroom procedures, enforced discipline at school, and attentive parents who teach children how to deal with disappointment. Do not allow a child’s circumstances to dictate whether or not you will discipline them.  All children require discipline, no matter their home situation or ability level.  It is inappropriate to give a bully a ...

Here is a statement released by Charles Olgletree who has been retained by Henry Louis Gates, Jr. after he was arrested at his Cambridge Massachusettes home. This information was posted at theroot.com and distributed. Statement on Behalf of Henry Louis Gates, Jr. -- by Charles Ogletree This brief statement is being submitted on behalf of my client, friend, and colleague, Professor Henry Louis Gates, Jr. This is a statement concerning the arrest of Professor Gates. On July 16th, 2009, Professor Henry Louis Gates, Jr., 58, the Alphonse Fletcher University Professor of Harvard University, was headed from Logan airport to his home [in] Cambridge after spending a week in China, where he was filming his new PBS documentary entitled “Faces of America”. Professor Gates was driven to his home by a driver for a local car company. Professor Gates attempted to enter his front door, but the door was damaged. Professor Gates then entered his rear door with his key, turned off his alarm, and again attempted to open the front door. With the help of his driver they were able to force the front door open, and then the driver carried Professor Gates’s luggage into his home. Professor Gates immediately ...

A new website called Support Paul Quinn College (supportpqc.com) has been launched in support of the historically black college in Southern Dallas.  Paul Quinn has a hearing set for next month where they will have a chance to appeal the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools decision to revoke their accreditation. The website has a letter of support from Bob Shapard, CEO and board chairman of Oncor, which is signed off by a number business and civic leaders (see list below).  This will run in the Business section of the Dallas Morning News on Sunday. Support Paul Quinn College also has a presence on Twitter, and Facebook. This is a good thing.  We've seen how social media can help bring attention to issues, and I hope the same thing happens here. Let me say this though.  GIVE PAUL QUINN SOME MONEY.  If I thought that it would be throwing good money after bad, I would not make that appeal.  But I made a donation to Paul Quinn earlier this year and don't regret it a bit.  It doesn't take much, and every little bit counts.  The struggle that PCQ finds itself in is a financial one. The school is headed in the right direction and needs ...

I'm glad introduce another Dallas South contributor, Nature Sargent who will generally focus on education.  Nature is a DISD educator and is a product of DISD schools.  Welcome to the Fam! Greetings Dallas South Family!  I am here to remind you that the idyllic days of summer are numbered and it is time to return our beautiful children to a schedule with school in mind.  Let’s call this my “Return to Routine” article. As an educator for the past seven years with the Dallas Independent School District, I have noticed a disturbing pattern.  I call it the Post-Summer Slump.  Students return to school every fall, excited, but not necessarily ready for a new year.  I am here to help you avoid this phenomenon. Let us first return the children to a sleeping pattern that is reasonable.  It is time to curb the late night habit.  It is time to awaken before 10.  This is best reversed incrementally; you have slightly more than a month to return them to schedule. Begin by having them get in bed before ten.  When school starts they should be used to an eight thirty bedtime. Also, be sure to revisit some of the previous year’s skills. ...

Paul Quinn College is not dead, but the grim reaper is walking out the door and headed in that direction. While most of us were following the developments in the death of Michael Jackson, a local story has gotten somewhat lost in the mix. Paul Quinn lost its accreditation from the Commission on Colleges of the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools after two years on probation. During those two years, President Michael Sorrell has instituted a number of fresh approaches to try to save the school, but the Southern Association says it's not enough.  Sorrell and Paul Quinn have appealed the decision. Michael Davis of Dallas Progress makes a great point on why the accreditation is so important. "Because students at an unaccredited school can't get financial aid" says Davis in a recent post about Paul Quinn. I've got three questions for people reading this post. #1 Do you care whether or not Paul Quinn is able to survive? #2 If you answered yes, have you ever donated money (even $5) to Paul Quinn? #3 If you answered yes, have you donated to P.Q. in the last year? It all boils down to ...

I was forwarded  this  entry by colleague Bruce Dixon out of Atlanta, managing editor of Black Agenda Report.  Dixon writes about  unrest in Chicago regarding  fired black teachers.   Here is a large portion of the entry, but please read Dixon's article Chicago Teachers File Racial Discrimination Suit it its entirety. BAR managing editor Bruce A. Dixon "The fired teachers are disproportionately African American, and the newly hired teachers are not." In May, Secretary of Education Arne Duncan declared the Obama administration's intent to close and "turn around" 5,000 "underperforming" public schools in poorer neighborhoods across the country. Duncan's last job was CEO of Chicago's public schools where he shut down dozens of neighborhood schools, practically all in lower income areas, and dismissed thousands of committed and experienced teachers, the vast majority of them African American women. When the Chicago Teachers Union made no effort to reach out to parents, students or their communities, refused to organize teachers to oppose the wave of school shutdowns and privatizations, teachers organized what they call CORE, the Coalition of Rank & File Educators. CORE has now filed suit against the Chicago Board of Education, charging that the mass dismissal of hundreds of mostly black veteran teachers and their ...

DALLAS – Local leaders will join forces with parents and youth to promote citizenship and non-violence at the fourth annual youth summit on Saturday, June 20, 2009. Deputy Mayor Pro Tem Dwaine Caraway will headline a panel of local elected officials as part of one local ministry’s commitment to stopping inner-city violence among teens and young adults. Martin Luther King, III, will also return for the fourth consecutive year to challenge youth and parents to get involved in their communities during the event titled, “Peace: the Final Frontier; Stopping the Cycle of Violence in our Community.” “We envisioned this program as an opportunity to change lives,” said Rodney Dulin, Minister of Central Pointe Church of Christ in southern Dallas which has hosted and organized the previous three events. “We have graduating seniors who attended their first youth summit as freshmen who finished high school without on incident of violence on their records. We believe this program and others like it played a part in that.” Free registration begins at 8:30 a.m. with the summit starting at 9:00 a.m. Lunch will be provided followed by a free basketball tournament featuring Utah Jazz star C.J. Miles, a graduate of Dallas’ Skyline High School. Local agencies ...