DALLAS — More than 100 hundred distinguished teachers in the Dallas Independent School District listened to a pitch from Superintendent Mike Miles Wednesday to encourage them to switch schools.
The district is preparing to unveil its Accelerating Campus Excellence (ACE) program at six low-performing schools this fall.
In addition to new building principals and longer school days, Miles wants to move teachers from successful schools into four elementary and two middle schools.
The key piece in attracting successful teachers is a stipend of $10,000, and incentives that could total $12,000 in additional pay.
Sheree Williams-Brown is a 7th grade math teacher at Medrano Middle School near Love Field. She said she is considering making the move, but still has questions. "What class size will I be dealing with? What grade levels are they looking for? What kind of expertise would you want me to bring? Will I have opportunities for leadership?"
The DISD ACE program reflects similar efforts in other large urban districts to turn around low-performing schools.
Robert Hobbs is an 8th grade language arts teacher at Medrano who is contemplating the same decision as his colleague Williams-Brown.
"It's not going to be easy," Hobbs said. "You're stepping into a challenge, which may also be part of the reason why it's intriguing. The money is what I think made people listen, but if you don't love the job, the money isn't worth it."
The campuses targeted for the program in the 2015-16 school year include:
- Blanton Elementary
- Mills Elementary
- Umphrey Lee Elementary
- Pease Elementary
- Zumwalt Middle School
- Edison Middle Learning Center
