Miles Under Pressure Over New DISD Controversy

Critics are calling for Dallas School Superintendent Mike Miles’ replacement in the wake of accusations of lies to school trustees over teacher hiring.

The new issue is whether the school board had actually approved more than $6 million in funding for 137 new teachers last fall before those teachers were hired.

The issue in question is, are those staff members needed? Or was the district already over staffed?

Thursday night's board meeting for the first four hours mainly focused on whether the board was misled by the administration.

There are critics who want to see Miles removed from his position.

Deputy Superintendent Dr. Ann Smisko expressed that 137 people was a lot of hires, but says the district did not over hire.

Miles says the number of new hires DISD needs is always a complex calculation.

“I don't remember any conversation where we said, ‘Oh no, we're going to have too many teachers. Oh no, we're going to break the bank. Oh no, we've done wrong.’ I don't remember any conversation like that at all,” Miles said at the board meeting.

This problem comes on top of a recent human resource text message scandal where Miles fired top administrators.

But even with the recent issues, Miles does have support from several board members and even the mayor of Dallas.

“These things are unethical. They are damaging and they are very disturbing in a school district that is about the education of our students,” said Alliance AFT President Rena Honea.

The teachers’ union leader said it is time for a change at the top.

“I think it certainly calls in to question the judgments that have been made,” she said.

Thursday morning, Miles was at a Dallas City Hall press conference about summer business internships with Mayor Mike Rawlings, a strong Miles supporter. Miles left without answering questions about the teacher hiring, but Rawlings said the HR issues are not reasons for leadership change at DISD.

“Nitpicky is the right word for it,” Rawlings said. “These things come along, but we’ve got to make sure we’re looking at the big narrative for the city of Dallas. Our schools have got to be transformed. We have a plan to do that. We’re making huge progress,” Rawlings said.

Rawlings claims there has already been academic achievement improvement by students.

“Now we’re seeing signs of hope that we’re turning this around. And let’s not throw the baby out with the bath water,” Rawlings said.

NBC 5's Johnny Archer contributed to this report.

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