Hired in April, Dallas public schools Superintendent Mike Miles was so eager to start transforming the district before his July 1 start date that on May 10 he presented the school board with "Destination 2020," an ambitious set of goals.
They included having 90 percent of students graduate; 40 percent score a 21 or higher on the ACT or 1110 on the SAT; and 80 percent enter college, the military or a "career-ready job" straight from high school -- all within the next eight years.Miles, who came from an 11,000-student district in Colorado, might have been so eager to transform the 157,000-student Dallas district that he skipped over hiring rules in his haste.A preliminary audit report says Miles offered jobs to three high-level administrators before their positions were created or posted for the required 10 days, The Dallas Morning News reported Wednesday.He had already caused outrage by staffing his Cabinet with new hires making $182,000 to $230,000. For instance, he hired his communications chief from Colorado, bumping up her pay almost $100,000.The change needed for progress in urban schools sometimes requires discarding outdated constraints. But reasonable hiring rules are important to regulate the use of tax dollars.Overspending when money is tight shows poor judgment. Disregarding rules when you're trying to enforce a culture of accountability is bad management.Doing both when schools are trying to convince the Legislature that education funding is in trouble? That just shows no political sense.Have more to add? News tip? Tell us
