Middle College High School PTSA: Budget 3.0 Talking Points

[Amy Grissom]

Please use and share these PTSA-developed talking points based on
yesterday's release of DISD Budget 3.0 with your contacts! They only
work if you call/write your DISD executive staff and Trustees, so go
for it!

• Middle College H.S. (MCHS) is a small school (around 200 students)
that partners with El Centro Community College by holding high school
classes on the college campus. Students learn in traditional high
school classrooms, but are also integrated into campus college courses
where students who successfully complete the courses receive dual
credit (both high school and college credit). Budget 3.0 proposes to
cut 5 teacher positions from our current 14.

• MCHS is has the 3rd lowest Dollars Per Student amount among all DISD
high schools at only $4,608 per student (Budget 3.0 ppt).

• Our El Centro partnership already yields DISD considerable cost
savings while providing superior academic results. In fact, MCHS
makes DISD money as the State pays DISD for our students’ attendance
in community college courses. Dual credit courses are not paid for by
DISD; only the textbooks are.

• DISD pays minimal costs to El Centro for facility use ($51,000 per
year) for Middle College High School. DISD does not pay for MCHS'
utilities, maintenance, insurance, security, library, cafeteria,
parking lot monitoring, or gym equipment. MCHS also does not incur
transportation costs such as vehicles, driver salaries and benefits,
maintenance on the vehicles, and gas and/or contract costs. However,
El Centro college cannot provide classrooms physically large enough to
accommodate more than 20 students. MCHS classroom size proposed in
budget 3.0 is more than 25 students.

• As an Early College, MCHS has significant legal, program, and
college admissions requirements regarding the program it offers. Any
changes must comply with those TEA requirements.

• Middle College is not a magnet school as some have incorrectly
stated. It is a perfect reflection of the Dallas ISD student body at
70.6% Hispanic, 23.2% African American, 4% white, 2.3% Asian. Middle
College enrolls primarily students at ‘high risk" of not graduating
high school. Many parents have not completed high school themselves
and do not speak English. In spite of this, we have a phenomenal
success rate.

• 100% of Middle College students graduate within four years (2009
Scorecard). We are also an Exemplary rated high school. Students not
only graduate with a high school diploma, but also significant college
credits and/or college degrees. We do this with only 14 teachers!

• Due to our students' high risk factors, teachers and staff at MCHS
commit to student success by not only teaching them, but also
tutoring, coaching, mentoring, and advising them in both high school
and college courses.

MCHS is already as "lean and mean" as we can be and already save DISD
significant funds compared to other schools. We cannot not afford to
lose 5 of our 14 teachers. We request that DISD consider the multiple
risks such cuts to MCHS would present. Please contact any of us if we
can provide further clarification. Many thanks for the work you do on
behalf of our students.