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What is VOLY?
VOLY is a candidate tracking system which pairs volunteers with schools or missions they choose. It also provides background information on standards and practices expected of volunteers and performs a background check on prospective volunteers to keep our students safe.
Dallas ISD does regularly need volunteers and many Parent Teacher Associations require their volunteer members to use the school’s volunteer system for approval. It takes just a few minutes to complete your identification information and check off which schools, subjects, and areas of interest you would like to participate.
Rickie Rush was accused of multiple offenses against women on Sunday. The Dallas Morning News reported a detailed investigation into reports of sexual and physical assault allegations against DFW’s Inspiring Body of Christ (IBOC) evangelist Rush. IBOC is one of the largest churches in both Texas and the nation.
Rush is currently not facing any criminal charges, but in an NBC interview Moffeit said he did not deny the charges but said through a statement from his lawyer the claims appear to be specious and without evidence.
“Pastor Rush vehemently denies these accusations and humbly requests all to resist a rush to judgment until his due process rights our constitution guarantees has taking effect,” said Rush’s attorney Michael P. Heiskell.
Rickie G. Rush is the Senior Pastor of the Inspiring Body of Christ Church. An internationally acclaimed speaker, teacher, and master illustrator, he is known for the engaging and humorous ways in which he simplifies the Word of God. Born to a single mother, he experienced tragedy and change early in life. The death of his mother, subsequent adoption, and calling to the ministry at 10 years old all combined to transform him from a devastated young boy in despair to a triumphant man of God filled with unlimited compassion.
Pastor Rush earned a secondary teaching degree from the University of Texas at Arlington, which led him to teach theatre arts for seventeen years at Skyline High School in Dallas, TX. Later, he obtained a Doctor of Divinity degree from Rialto Bible College, which afforded him the opportunity to instruct adults and pastors at the collegiate level. Among his major educational influences were debate, oratory, and music. His love for music led to the organization of several gospel choirs. During his school and teaching years, he also maintained a rigorous preaching schedule. This was the beginning of what would lead to one of God’s greatest assignments in Pastor Rush’s life.
An exit may be coming for Courtney Pogue, Director for the City of Dallas Office of Economic Development. Anonymous city hall staff say Mr. Pogue is leaving his post by end of year.
Pogue has served in his current capacity for nearly three years. Prior to that he was in positions for just over two years in Clayton County (Atlanta area) and Cook County (Chicago area).
Per a social media profile, Mr. Pogue led the City of Dallas Office of Economic Development with an operating budget of approximately $8.5MM and a capital budget of $100MM annually via 19 Tax Increment Financing Districts and 14 Public Improvement Districts. Managed a staff of 35 within four (4) divisions: area redevelopment, business development, community development, and finance/administration. Initiated the 1st economic development plan in 15 years for the City of Dallas.
Secured approximately $3.0 billion in private investment and approximately 16,000 job commitments since November 2017.
Highland Park ISD learned late Wednesday evening they had eleven varsity football players test positive for COVID19 “over the last couple weeks.”
Scrimmages vs. Trinity High School are canceled and the district is consulting with Dallas County Health and Human Services about next week’s opener against Austin Westlake.
Highland Park ISD High School Football and COVID19
Just two weeks ago a team physician for the Penn State Nittany Lions stated that thirty to thirty-five percent of his COVID19 positive players showed symptoms of myocarditis – an inflammation of the heart muscle
As the Mayor and City Council debate today the Defund DPD or pay cuts to top level employees the economic development staff issued a Notice of Funding Availability that side stepped normal city procurement policy despite a long history of South Dallas-Fair Park Opportunity Fund being poor accountants of the public’s tax dollars.
Staff for the South Dallas-Fair Park Opportunity Fund also extended the deadline for applications. An anonymous city staff member noted the advisory board mostly applauded, but who and what is being funded is still up in the air. Previously the fund has mostly been a cash cow for certain connected individuals who use the fund as a low cost loan provider at taxpayer expense.
The advisory board has previously avoided a majore reform proposed by City Manager TC Broadnax – axing the ongoing social-services grants and focusing on loans.
It isn’t clear what actions the advisory board is taking to improve the outlook for the Fair Park area, but to date, it appears they are only providing acquiesence and not advice.
Trust Missing…Still and Forever?
Decades’ of city audits reveal the fund is broken and almost broke, after dispensing some $7 million of taxpayer money. The results? There is little to show for it except unpaid-loan lawsuits and just a handful of success stories fueled with forgivable loans.
Dallas ISD enrollment is down by 15,000 students from its lowered projections as school starts its second week. This is roughly ten percent of the entire school population compared to the spring.
Texas school funding is largely based on how many students attend daily with additional funding factors for Special Education and English as a Second Language students. Dallas ISD operates with a $1.64B annual budget.
In addition to the enrollment issues, Dallas ISD officials admitted nearly ten percent of their student population who are enrolled do not have a district-issued electronic laptop or tablet despite mandatory online learning and a Title I population of nearly 90% of all students.
Despite these enrollment issues, Dallas ISD is moving forward with their MAP testing program. MAP stands for Measures of Academic Progress.
Dallas ISD Enrollment
Dallas ISD enrollment has been dropping by 1000 – 2000 students per year since a high of 160,000 students in the school year ending in 2015.
The lower enrollment numbers means the district may not have the revenue needed to support the $3.7B Bond 2020 package. Lower enrollment numbers on top of an auditor scandal which has still gone unanswered may leave Dallas ISD’s Bond 2020 program in a precarious position financially.
Defund Dallas may be the new cry against Defund DPD. Mayor Eric Johnson has recently stirred up controversy for trying to cut government salaries. It all started on September 1st when the mayor posted a tweet highlighting the discrepancy of salaries of Dallas among other government salaries.
Apparently the Dallas City Manager, T.C Broadnax, makes more than the President of the United States. Which is certainly odd, considering the wide gap in responsibility between the two jobs. As well as the fact that even the top 10% of City Managers earn significantly less than what T.C Broadnax is currently earning (according to the U.S Bureau of Labor Statistics, 2019)
Should this be the case? Is the wage worth the work? Mayor Eric Johnson doesn’t think so. In fact, the mayor himself wrote an opinion piece on The Dallas Morning News defending his budget amendment.
In it he states his proposal to decrease the salary of some Dallas government officials amidst the pandemic to make room for more services and lower taxes.
Mayor Eric Johnson’s Defund Dallas Program
The budget amendment in a nutshell cuts 10% off the salary of anyone who makes more than $60,000 annually (including the mayor himself who makes $80,000). This does not include anyone working for emergency services.
Cuts made from the salaries are to help fund more services such as better infrastructure (better roads and streetlights), better policing/ public safety, and lower property taxes.
Unfortunately there is no specifics as to what he means by better policing. Nor if the lower property taxes will be a main focus point or simply an extra treat in case there is left over funds. More details will be unveiled once he formally proposes the budget amendment on the 23rd.
Public Perception
When the straw vote was conducted not a single council member voted on even discussinga cut to salaries. Some people agreed with the mayor and where disappointed by the council. Some said the mayor should have also proposed to cut salaries from the Dallas police, and other cuts in general. Others made fun of the mayor for leaving after the straw vote. And a handful questioned the validity of his bloated bureaucracy claim.
As is with government in general, ineffectiveness and useless spending often persevere. Seeing as how the Dallas council has voted in the past its unlikely that the budget amendment will go through despite the COVID-19 struggle and mayor Eric Johnson’s attempts.
“If this is not the time … to trim the top 10% of salaries at the city of Dallas … then there will never be a time,” -Dallas Mayor Eric Johnson
Next Generation Action Network is seeking a Seventy-seven million dollar decrease in the Dallas Police budget per two separate persons with knowledge of the situation.
Defund DPD has been a rallying cry since the George Floyd death with several members of city council vocally supporting fewer dollars headed to DPD. At yesterday’s meeting of Dallas City Council it appeared there were enough votes to move $7M in overtime from the Dallas Police budget.
Mayor Eric Johnson has tweeted that more than 500 people have emailed City Council about defunding police during the violent crime spike. It is unclear how the Dallas Budget will end up with members of Dallas City Council openly attacking one another in meetings and on social media.
Defund DPD 2.0 – Reaction to Alexander Arrest?
One source who reported NGAN may be seeking this level of funding change said it may be related to the arrest this past weekend of Dominique Alexander.
Neither Next Generation Action Network nor Mayor Johnson has responded to an email for comment.
Defund DPD looks like it is becoming an election issue afterall.
Several members of Dallas City Council, including Adam Baladua and Chad West, are circulating the graphic below showing the reallocation of Dallas Police overtime to other focus areas. The argument they make is that crime prevention dollars are better spent than crime response.
It is not clear how some of these measures are anything except for pet projects in the city. Bike infrastructure and new solar panels have not been linked towards crime prevention in any way and arts funding, useful to the community at large, has little to nothing to do with crime prevention either.
One recent social media post noted it appears some members of city council are trying to balance the budget deficit on the backs of cops after the city council voted to waste millions on Visit Dallas earlier this summer.
Another poster noted that city council knows overtime is hard to budget for and with COVID19 and ongoing George Floyd protests these dollars are being used more quickly than usual.
Defund DPD – Not Really
One issue that is being raised very lightly is the total budget cut from the police force. Despite multiple city council members saying their budget priority was to Defund DPD in June the current reallocation argument amounts to only 0.8%. Where is the real ‘Defund’ movement and will these same members of city council continue to buy armored vehicles for the police as they did earlier this year.
Reneé Hall resigns from Dallas Police effective November 10, 2020. Hall’s tenure has been marred by an explosion in Dallas crime over the past two years that is breaking a decades’ old record for violent crime.
Hall has also pushed back against city council critics who want to defund the police budget.
