State to take over W-H schools
Initial focus likely to be financial, not academic; some call action weak
By JOSHUA BENTON, The Dallas Morning News, November 10, 2004

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After months of turmoil in Wilmer-Hutchins schools, the state is ready to take over.

Texas Education Commissioner Shirley Neeley said Tuesday that she had decided to send a state management team to run the district's operations.

"We want everyone to have a positive feeling about Wilmer-Hutchins at the end of the school year," Dr. Neeley said. "The management team will work collaboratively with the district."

But some critics said the move wasn't strong enough. Under state law, a management team is limited in the actions it can take, and its initial focus probably will be only the district's financial state, not its history of academic failure.

The state also imposed a management team in the late 1990s, but that didn't reverse the district's problems.

WHAT'S NEXT?

A hearing before state District Judge Merrill Hartman is scheduled Thursday to determine whether the Wilmer-Hutchins school board will return to work. He issued a temporary restraining order Friday that prevented the trustees from meeting or making any decisions.

Later this week, the Texas Education Agency will announce the members of the new management team that will oversee the district's operations.

The new managers will be introduced to residents at a public meeting sometime next week.
"TEA came in once before, and the minute they left, the same things started all over again," said board member Joan Bonner, an opponent of the district's leadership. "I am not impressed."

Dr. Neeley took the unusual step of announcing the move Tuesday evening after a two-hour meeting in Austin with Wilmer-Hutchins officials. Normally, the TEA announces the creation of a management team by letter, and the team's members are made public at the same time.

This time, the agency said the members of the management team have not been selected. TEA spokeswoman Debbie Graves Ratcliffe said she hoped they could be announced by week's end.

"I look forward to working with the agency," board President Luther Edwards said. "I believe it's going to be helpful for the children and the community."

Wilmer-Hutchins has been in financial turmoil since summer, at one point missing payroll and leaving hundreds of teachers without pay for weeks. The district's facilities are near collapse as well, and its academic record is among the state's worst. After a Dallas Morning News data analysis found evidence of teachers cheating on state tests, the TEA began a preliminary inquiry.

The Story So Far

11/10: State to take over W-H schools (above)

11/06: W-H scores suspicious:
Exclusive: News analysis triggers cheating concerns
By JOSHUA BENTON, The Dallas Morning News, November 7, 2004

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On this year's third-grade TAKS reading test, an unlikely school finished No. 1 in the state.

Wilmer Elementary – a perennial underachiever in a district many consider the state's worst – beat out the scores of 3,212 other elementary schools.

But substantial evidence, including a Dallas Morning News data analysis, indicates that cheating may be behind that success.

"This large of a gain is highly improbable due simply to improved instruction," said Gregory Cizek, a professor at the University of North Carolina and a national expert on cheating.

After being informed of The News' analysis of scores at Wilmer Elementary, the Texas Education Agency began a preliminary inquiry and is considering launching a full investigation. Last week, the agency decided it would analyze 2004 TAKS answer sheets at several Wilmer-Hutchins' elementary schools to see if large numbers of answers had been erased and changed.

Wilmer educators strongly denied there was anything improper about their scores. "What are they suspicious of?" Wilmer Principal Geraldine Hobson asked. "We just worked real hard."

James Damm, the district's new interim superintendent, said he is aware of the cheating concerns and hopes state officials will determine the truth.

"Someone is presumed innocent until proven guilty," said Mr. Damm, who took over last week after Superintendent Charles Matthews was indicted on charges of tampering with evidence in a TEA investigation. "But if they're guilty, they'll be held accountable. If that's the case here, and there's been any sort of tampering, the individuals involved can be prosecuted under felony law. It's not a very happy thing to think about."

Not a first for district

This isn't the first time that improvements in Wilmer-Hutchins' test scores have been attributed to cheating. In 1999, TEA decided to monitor the test-taking process at Alta Mesa Elementary after suspicions of cheating arose. The school's test scores plummeted when the tests were administered in the presence of state officials.

This time, the questions are being asked at Wilmer Elementary, a historically underachieving campus. It has twice been labeled "low performing" by the state, most recently in 2000. That ranked the school in the bottom 3 percent of the state.

But in 2004, its students aced the third-grade reading test – the high-stakes exam that students must pass to be promoted to fourth grade. Of all elementary schools in the state that tested at least 30 students, Wilmer Elementary finished No. 1 – and by a significant margin over No. 2, Canyon Creek Elementary in the Austin suburb of Round Rock.

Scores have spiked before in district
Almost all of Wilmer's students got nearly 100 percent of the test's questions correct.

Although schools with impoverished students typically fare worse academically than those in more affluent communities, Wilmer Elementary far outpaced the performance of the best schools in Highland Park, Plano, Carroll and every other wealthy district in the state. More than 90 percent of the test-takers at Wilmer were poor enough to qualify for free or reduced school lunch.

Immigrant students

Among the most striking results were the scores of Wilmer's limited-English-proficient students. These students – typically recent immigrants from Latin America – by definition have difficulties speaking, reading and writing English. Last year, Texas' limited-English students had a passing rate 9 percentage points lower than the state average on the third-grade reading test.

But at Wilmer Elementary, those students did extraordinarily well on the TAKS. All of Wilmer's children with limited English skills had perfect or nearly perfect scores on the reading test. They, as a group, outscored every other school in the state.

"Clearly these results ought to be looked into," said Dr. Cizek, who is also a member of the committee that advises Texas officials on how to run the state's testing system.

He said it was conceivable that a school as poor and underachieving as Wilmer could end up with the best test scores in the state. "It's about as likely as the Texans winning the Super Bowl," he said. "I suppose it could happen. But it's highly unlikely."

Principal is proud

Wilmer's principal, Ms. Hobson, said that's exactly what happened. "For us to have beaten Highland Park and all the others, I say thank you, Jesus," she said. "I'm real proud of that. We have absolutely nothing to hide."

"We were very confident before the test," said Janeece Choice, one of the two third-grade teachers at Wilmer. "The children had learned what they needed to know, how to analyze and summarize."

But the remarkable test scores at Wilmer are not duplicated in other grades or on other tests. On the fourth-grade reading test, Wilmer's students finished in the bottom 20 percent of the state. In fifth grade, scores were also well below the state average.

The amazing scores came only in the one grade where poor test scores have severe consequences – and, according to cheating experts, educators have a greater incentive to fudge.

"Cheating responds to the costs and the benefits," said Brian Jacob, a Harvard public-policy professor who studied seven years of test scores in Chicago schools. By searching for unlikely patterns on answer sheets and unexplained jumps in scores, he found strong evidence of educators cheating in about 4 percent of classrooms.

But that percentage increased if a test was high-stakes, as the third-grade reading TAKS is. Cheating was 30 percent to 40 percent more common in classrooms taking a high-stakes test than in those where a test had no concrete consequences, he said.

Analyzing the scores

The News analysis was performed by examining the scale scores of each school in the state. TEA typically reports only a school's passing rate – how many of its students did well enough to meet state standards on the TAKS.

A school's average scale score gives more detail. It indicates whether students were barely passing the test or if – as at Wilmer Elementary – they were getting nearly every question correct.

To put it in traditional classroom terms, scale scores can tell you whether a school's students are squeaking by with a D-minus average or if they're all scoring an A-plus.

Lionel Churchill, a community activist and critic of the administration, said several district employees have told him they believe there was TAKS cheating in several Wilmer-Hutchins elementary schools. He said many of the district's children had excellent TAKS scores despite having poor grades. Some students, he said, were recommended for summer school despite near-perfect scores on the TAKS.

"There's a lot of cheating going on," he said. "The scores just do not match up."

Last month, Mr. Churchill raised his concerns in a formal complaint to TEA. His suspicions are based in part on how much better the district's students scored in its elementary schools than in later grades.

In 2003, 77.2 percent of Wilmer-Hutchins' fifth-graders passed the math TAKS. But in sixth grade, the passing rate dropped to 32 percent. There was a similar drop in reading: 75.7 percent in fifth grade, 49 percent in sixth.

Sixth grade is the year when students move up to Kennedy-Curry Middle School. Test scores at Kennedy-Curry and Wilmer-Hutchins High School have long been among the lowest in the state.

Susan Barnes, TEA's associate commissioner of standards and programs, said that the unusual test scores at Wilmer Elementary "are of interest." But she said the agency had not done enough investigating to decide whether any state action is needed. "We'll look at everything that we think is appropriate," she said.

Rebuttal to critics

At an October school board meeting, board president Luther Edwards said the high test scores were a rebuttal to those who criticized Wilmer-Hutchins – currently the subject of federal and state criminal investigation and likely to soon be taken over by the TEA.

"You showed them," he told a group of students and teachers in the audience. "You knocked the bottom out of those test scores. You sent a message."

Staff writer Holly K. Hacker contributed to this report.

E-mail jbenton@dallasnews.com

11/03: Petition to abolish W-H district making rounds

11/02: W-H chief is put on leave with pay

10/29: Superintendent of W-H indicted

09/27: Cash-strapped district gets some relief

09/22: Lingering problems plague W-H school's alarm system, cafeteria

09/21: No hot lunch at Wilmer-Hutchins High

09/08: Wilmer-Hutchins accused of shredding files

09/08: District seeks image repair

09/03: W-H police chief advised to end inquiry

08/31: State getting ready to run W-H schools

08/30: Red ink not new to W-H chief

Editorial: Out of Control: If state can't fix Wilmer-Hutchins, who can?

08/26: Payroll not met in Wilmer-Hutchins

08/25: State to audit W-H's finances

08/24: Wilmer-Hutchins is 'broke,' official testifies

08/24: School's in session for everyone now

Editorial: Time Running Out: And so are excuses for Wilmer-Hutchins

08/23: Schools not worth saving, W-H told

08/22: Wilmer-Hutchins' recent woes are part of dismal pattern

Graphics: Wilmer-Hutchins ISD – Not measuring up

Wilmer-Hutchins officials are the subject of multiple state and federal criminal corruption investigations. Superintendent Charles Matthews was suspended last week after he was indicted on a charge of tampering with evidence in an investigation, a third-degree felony.

The Wilmer-Hutchins management team will be made up of two administrators. They will have the authority to overrule any decision of the school board, interim Superintendent James Damm or any principal in the district.

Some advocates for reform in the district praised the move.

"I think it's good news," said Lionel Churchill, a former board member who is leading a petition drive to have the district dissolved. "The only thing that can help this district is outside help. I hope they do a real thorough cleaning job."

A management team took over Wilmer-Hutchins from 1996 to 1998. Cyrus Holley, who was half of the original management team, said he thinks the TEA's action Tuesday would not be enough.

"They need to replace the school board, take over the school district, fire the superintendent and merge it into Dallas or another school district," he said.

Mr. Holley said the school board was resistant to working with the last management team. "They were a complete roadblock," he said.

He asked the TEA to pursue legal means for removing the board. When then-Commissioner Mike Moses said he would not go after the board, Mr. Holley and his fellow manager, Lois Harrison-Jones, resigned. Replacements served out the rest of TEA's stay in the district.

Mr. Holley said he thinks he has been proved right by the district's continued problems.

"They have demonstrated over the last 10 years-plus that they cannot run themselves, they cannot administer themselves, and it's time for the state of Texas to face up to that."

Ms. Ratcliffe said the agency considered going beyond a management team and installing a board of managers – a tougher intervention that would have involved throwing the entire school board out of office and replacing its members with state appointees.

"But we didn't feel that we had all the legal groundwork for more intense intervention," she said.

The management team will have no set term in office, but state law requires its status to be reviewed every 90 days.

She said the agency viewed a management team as a "very severe sanction" but acknowledged some critics were hoping for more.

"This commissioner is looking at all manner of creative options, including things this agency has never done before," she said. "Frankly, there is a concern that we have tried this before in Wilmer-Hutchins, and it hasn't caused a sustained change in the district's behavior. The commissioner is very interested in a long-term solution to the district's operations and the educational services it delivers."

But Ms. Ratcliffe said Ms. Neeley is not actively considering dissolving the school district.

"State law makes it extremely hard to dismantle a school district or a city government," she said.

Mr. Churchill's petition drive has gathered enough signatures for the question of dissolving Wilmer-Hutchins to be placed before voters. Before that can happen, state law requires the school board to approve the vote, which is unlikely.

With a management team in place, the state managers could decide to overrule the school board and put the issue to a vote. Ms. Ratcliffe said she doubted the TEA managers would do such a thing, however.

"We want to give the management team a chance to work with the board and get it back on track," she said.

Mr. Holley said a TEA official had called him recently and asked whether he would be interested in being part of the new management team.

"I said no," he said. "I'm 70 years old. I'm too old to be involved in that mess."

E-mail jbenton@dallasnews.com

Superintendent of W-H indicted
He calls tampering case misunderstanding; 2nd official also charged
By JOSHUA BENTON, The Dallas Morning News, October 28, 2004

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Charles Matthews, superintendent of the troubled Wilmer-Hutchins schools, was indicted Thursday on charges he tampered with evidence in an ongoing investigation.

The district's maintenance director, Wallace Faggett, also was indicted by a Dallas County grand jury. The charges both men face are third-degree felonies with a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison.

The troubled southern Dallas County district is the target of a major criminal investigation into corruption allegations. Officials said more employees of the school district, which has more than 2,800 students, could be indicted. "Maybe this is just the first step in getting the quality of education that we'd all like to see those children have," Dallas County District Attorney Bill Hill said.

Dr. Matthews said Thursday afternoon that the indictments were the result of a misunderstanding. He said he had only wanted some documents thrown out because they made the place look untidy.

"I look forward to my day in court," he said.

Mr. Faggett was contacted by phone but declined to comment.

The charges are based on evidence Dr. Matthews ordered Mr. Faggett to destroy purchase orders and other documents that bear the name of Gerald Henderson, the district's former maintenance director. Mr. Henderson's role in the district was among the subjects of a Texas Education Agency audit into the district's finances.

Mr. Henderson's signature continued to appear on district documents for more than a year after he stopped working for the district and became too ill to sign his name legibly. His name and salary also appeared in the district's budget after he no longer worked in the district.

Wilmer-Hutchins has been the subject of dozens of investigations over the last decade by education officials and a long list of law-enforcement agencies. Among the current investigators: the FBI, the Texas Rangers, state and federal grand juries, the TEA, and as of this week, the Internal Revenue Service.

'New beginnings'

But Thursday's indictments are thought to be the first against district employees.

"It's a day for new beginnings in the district," said Wilmer-Hutchins Police Chief Cedric Davis, who has made public charges about corruption in the district since spring.

The current round of troubles in Wilmer-Hutchins began when a storm in June tore holes in the district's high school and officials did not properly repair the damage. Students could not attend classes in the main high school building for more than a month after school was scheduled to start.

Then the district ran out of money, just a few months after reporting a $1.6 million fund balance. On Aug. 25, the district could not meet its monthly payroll, and many teachers went without pay. Troubled by the missing money and other allegations of corruption, the Texas Education Agency sent an audit team to the district Aug. 30.

Two days later, Dr. Matthews was accused of ordering Mr. Faggett to gather up any documents bearing Mr. Henderson's name and destroy them.

At the time, Mr. Faggett's administrative assistant, Walterine Hardin, told The Dallas Morning News that she had gathered up the documents at Mr. Faggett's request.

She said he told her "the superintendent wanted us to destroy some documents." Mr. Faggett "tore them up in front of us," she said.

Ms. Hardin later reported the incident to Wilmer-Hutchins ISD police. Police and TEA officials found the torn documents, including a stack of purchase orders, in a trash bin behind the district's maintenance building.

Dr. Matthews said Thursday that he had done nothing wrong. He said that the maintenance office had a lot of extra paper lying around and that he wanted Mr. Faggett to "tidy it up." He said the maintenance department's secretary was "really sloppy."

"I told him, 'You need to clean up your area, get rid of the old stuff,' " he said. "It was filthy down there. It was untidy."

TEA audit

Tom Canby, the TEA's managing director of financial audits called the charges "very serious matters."

"We hold public officials to a high level of professionalism because they have responsibility over large amounts of public funds," he said.

The TEA could take over the school district within two weeks.

Mr. Canby said this was, to his knowledge, the first time a school official has faced indictment for obstructing a TEA audit investigation. He has been at the TEA since 1978.

The charges filed Thursday carry a penalty of between two and 10 years in prison and a fine of up to $10,000.

Both men are allowed 24 hours to surrender to authorities and post bail.

The multi-agency criminal investigation into corruption in Wilmer-Hutchins continues. Mr. Hill said he hopes the charges will increase public confidence in the district.

"Certainly the students and kids at Wilmer-Hutchins deserve the finest education they could possibly have," the district attorney said. "Certainly that means having an administration that's free of corruption and crime."

Dr. Matthews said he probably would represent himself in court.

"I won't need an attorney," he said. "Truth is on my side."

He said he had no plans to step aside as superintendent.

Mr. Faggett continues as maintenance director, but the department was placed under the supervision of Lew Blackburn, the district's human resources director. Dr. Blackburn is also a Dallas schools trustee.

Dr. Blackburn said he did not know whether it was district policy to suspend district employees under indictment.

"We've got to make that decision," he said.

Board President Luther Edwards, a supporter of Dr. Matthews, said it was premature to discuss what would happen to the superintendent.

"He will have his day in court," he said.

He said the school board would discuss the matter at its meeting Monday, probably in executive session.

But trustee Joan Bonner, a longstanding Matthews opponent, said she thinks Dr. Matthews should step down.

"It's long past due," she said. "This proves the legal system can work."

Staff writer Robert Tharp contributed to this report.

E-mail jbenton@dallasnews.com

TIMELINE OF TROUBLES

Aug 16: Wilmer-Hutchins High School cannot open on the first day of classes because storm damage from June has not been repaired.

Aug. 25: The district runs out of money and fails to meet its payroll. A few months earlier, the district had reported a $1.6 million fund balance.

Aug. 30: A Texas Education Agency audit team begins an investigation into the district's financial problems.

Sept. 4: The Dallas Morning News reports that James Belt, Wilmer-Hutchins' chief attorney and a central figure in the troubled district, had been suspended by the State Bar of Texas twice in the past three years.

Sept. 8: The News reports that an administrative assistant watched her boss, Wilmer-Hutchins maintenance director Wallace Faggett destroy a stack of purchase orders on direct orders from Superintendent Charles Matthews.

Sept. 9: FBI agents and Texas Rangers seize documents and serve subpoenas at Wilmer-Hutchins school administration buildings.

Sept. 20: Phillip Roberson, Wilmer-Hutchins' chief financial officer, is suspended by Dr. Matthews after Dr. Roberson agrees to testify before a federal grand jury.

Sept. 21: Wilmer-Hutchins High School opens more than a month late but is nearly closed a few hours later when Dallas fire officials discover that the fire alarm system is faulty.

Oct. 13: The TEA's preliminary audit report finds that Dr. Matthews received more than $16,000 in illegal pay last year. Investigators also find that the district illegally shifted $500,000 from its bond fund to its general fund.

Oct. 18: Wilmer-Hutchins trustees approve the layoffs of 26 employees. Officials estimate that the layoffs will save the district about $1 million.

Thursday: A Dallas County grand jury indicts Dr. Matthews and Mr. Faggett on charges of tampering with physical evidence.