District Administration - February 2007 - (Page 30)

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Just 30 and already an assistant superintendent, he recognized that “it doesn’t happen in the urban districts so young.” So Hinojosa logged superintendent years in Houston, at the Hays Consolidated School District south of Austin, and at the Fabens Independent School District near El Paso. And in 2002 he became Harris County’s ﬁrst Hispanic superintendent. He landed his current treasured post in 2005 by unanimous vote of Dallas’ school board. Dallas was ripe for change. Hinojosa was only Dr. Michael Hinojosa D the 23rd superintendent in Dallas’ history. As the seventh superintendent in 10 years, however, Hinojosa exceeded the tenure of eight of his predecessors after just a year and a half of service. The district had high hopes but little direction, and he had to be quickly creative in governing his district toward cohesive success in spite of its immense size and constant scrutiny within the media. “A vision is a dream with a deadline,” Hinojosa says. Strategic use of his principals and hometown mentality has not only moved Hinojosa into the good graces of his professional kin; his personal background has brought him credibility, understanding and acceptance among his students and their families. “I’m an immigrant, born in Mexico,” he says. “I know this city like the back of my hand.” He understands the 85 percent of Dallas students who are economically disadvantaged, who struggle with even having the material possessions necessary to attend school. “Public education is so important because it’s a great equalizer. My parents brought us to the greatest country in the world for education. I’m one of the kids who got smarter. That’s how to break the cycle of poverty: through education.” Everyone must call him “Michael,” and if they can’t say it, he’s simply “Doc.” Going the distance: Hinojosa relies heavily on a well-crafted web of principals who help him advise and supervise Dallas’ expanse. With their help, the district developed the Dallas Achieves Initiative with its sites on Dallas becoming the best urban district in the country by 2010. ‘Dallas Achieves’ on course: Through the initiative, Hinojosa’s staff has developed two International Schools, which help elementary-aged students become bilingual and even trilingual by ﬁfth grade. Seven more schools are on the way. Also in place are “Career Academies” that will prepare students for jobs in ﬁelds such as medicine, the auto industry and many others. Travelin’ man: Wednesdays are Hinojosa’s school-visit days. At the time that this was written, he’d hit 197 of Dallas’ schools, doing it on a 15-to-20schools-a-month schedule. “You need to discipline yourself to do it.” School visits: “I go in unannounced; I talk with the principal, meet with the head custodian, the cafeteria supervisors, the librarians.” Everyone must call him “Michael,” and if they can’t say it, he’s simply “Doc.” “I’ve done that my whole career, and it’s made a huge difference. People see me as a regular person. I don’t go to ‘snoopervise’ ... I’m an advocate.” The principle of his principals: “Since [Dallas] is so big, I have a principal that serves on the Executive Leadership Team, who serves a six-month rotating term. I also have a Principals Advisory Committee, which visits with me quarterly. The principals are the CEOs of the campuses; they have the pulse of the school and the community. They know what the parents, students and teachers are thinking.” DA Jennifer Chase Esposito is a contributing editor. District Administration DR. MICHAEL HINOJOSA Superintendent, Dallas Independent School District Tex. Age : 50 Salary: $315,000 Tenure : One and a half years Students : 160,000 Staff and faculty: 20,000 Schools : 230 Hinojosa’s alternate profession:“I’ve never thought of anything else. Maybe when I retire. But it’ll probably be related to education.” Free-time folly: “Some guys golf or travel. I coach both of my sons’ baseball teams. One is 16 and one is 14. They’re only young once.” 30 February 2007 DA_207_admin.indd DA_207_admin.indd 30 1/17/07 10:07:14 AM Warning : Unknown : The session id contains invalid characters, valid characters are only a-z, A-Z and 0-9 in Unknown on line 0 Warning : Unknown : Failed to write session data files . Please verify that the current setting of session.save_path is correct /var/lib/php/session in Unknown on line 0

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of District Administration - February 2007

Contents
Editor's Letter
Update
Inside the Law
Curriculum Update
Tackling Health Care Together
Administrator Profile
District Profile
Curriculum Hotspots
New Information Systems Track Student Progress
Students Wanted!
Spread the Word
Mentors Boost Student Reading Levels
The Online Edge
Speaking Out
Research Corner
Problem/Solution
Leadership Books
New Products
Calendar of Events
Professional Opinion

District Administration - February 2007