The superintendent of the Dallas school district said Tuesday that he is focusing on the effectiveness of the district's teachers.
Superintendent Mike Miles, who now has 100 days under his belt, said he aims to have the highest percentage of college- and career-ready graduates in the country.
His Destination 2020 plan calls for 90 percent of Dallas Independent School District students to graduate on time by the year 2020. The plan also aims for 80 percent to enter college, the military or a career upon graduation.
Miles said his Destination 2020 goals can be achieved with more effective teachers and principals.
Teachers will get more oversight through an increased number of administrator classroom visits, he said. The number of visits will go up from one to two to 16 to 18.
"It will mean that we're not going to move teachers who are not proficient from one building to another," Miles said. "You're not going to see that any more in Dallas ISD."
Miles also said he is working on an innovative pay-for-play system in which teachers would be paid based on their students' performance.
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The superintendent said he has already visited with about 30 schools.
"The teachers I've seen are trying to do a good job in the classroom," he said. "They're learning. This is a changed year, so there's a lot of learning to be done."
Rena Honea, president of teacher group Alliance for Teachers, said she hopes there will be leniency when it came to moving teachers and principals. Many times, personality conflicts can be worked out by moving around staff, she said.
Honea also said that teachers report that are exhausted because of the longer school day, a change implemented by the school board before Miles started as superintendent. She said she hopes to have some statistics from teachers by the Sept. 27 DISD board meeting.
