Dallas Public Schools: Miles Resigns, Smisko To Helm District

As expected, Mike Miles announced he would step down as superintendent of Dallas public schools at Thursday’s school board meeting. Once he tenders his resignation, deputy superintendent Ann Smisko will take the reins as the search for a new superintendent begins.

Miles becomes the fourth superintendent to leave the district in 15 years. Dallas ISD has not had a superintendent see a freshman class graduate in 20 years. Miles was hired in 2012.

With a smile on his face, Miles began the press conference by recalling his hiring, saying when he arrived three years ago, the district was ready for a change. “I was brought with the recognition that we could not do the things we have always done,” he said. “The team and I accepted that challenge, knowing that we would have to think differently and act courageously. We knew we would have to make the tough decisions many were unprepared to make, and that many would oppose.

“Similar to the construction of a new building,” he said, there needed to be a good foundation – good teachers in every classroom, good principals, engaged students and parents.

Miles listed several accomplishments his team made over the past three years: Developing and implementing the most rigorous pay-for-performance system for teachers and principals in the nation; raising expectations with a high-performance culture; raising fund balance from $180 million to $350 million to place the district in its strongest financial situation ever; achieving the largest student achievement growth in any large district in Texas also challenged by poverty, per ERG analysis of success for urban school districts; increasing the graduation rate; establishing a national standard for number of minority students passing advanced placement exams; hiring more teachers; beginning rigorous choice school program; increasing investments in early childhood ed; implementing the ACE program; and creating an online newsroom.

“This team has been able to accomplish quite a bit, and I know no other district who has been able to accomplish that much in the same period of time,” he said.

And because of those achievements, Miles said, “I have decided that now is the time that I can step aside as superintendent,” knowing that the team that has been built can carry on his work.

It was a difficult decision, he said, and not made lightly. Citing his commitment to his family, he said, “It’s time to rejoin them in Colorado.”

Miles added that he is very proud of his team, calling them the “true unsung heroes of our reform efforts,” and because of this pride and confidence in them, he felt comfortable stepping down, adding that his resignation will become official at Thursday’s board meeting. “It has been a privilege to serve this community.”

Smisko, who has served as deputy superintendent for three years, will take over. Smisko was the Associate Commissioner for School Improvement and Educator Initiatives at the Texas Education Agency prior to joining DISD, and also served previously as the agency’s Associate Commissioner for Curriculum, Assessment and Technology. Prior to that, Smisko was the Assistant Superintendent of Curriculum and Instruction with the Austin Independent School District and as the Associate Vice Chancellor for Public Schools for the Texas A&M University System. Her education career began as a teacher in the Boston public school system.

Smisko told reporters today that she and the rest of the leadership team have been “inspired by the work of Mike Miles,” and thanked him for “positioning us for success.”

“The reality is that the importance and urgency of Mr. Miles’ vision outlasts any one person. The cabinet and I are as committed today  to doing the work of transformation as we were when we joined,” she said, adding that they will continue Miles’ reforms, beginning with presenting the board with a balanced budget on Thursday, and completing their goal of having a permanent teacher in every classroom by the beginning of the school year.

Before he took questions, Miles insisted that his stepping down would not set the district back. He grinned wryly and went off script, relaying a scene from one of his favorite movies, “Camelot.” Referring to the last scene, where Lancelot and Arthur discuss the coming battle against Lancelot (at the insistence of Arthur’s knights, thirsty for revenge).

“Lancelot asks if there is no way to avoid this battle. And Arthur says, ‘No, Lancelot. We tried to build this dream, this place, this place of hope, this place we know as Camelot and the knights, they’re happy, they’re happy to go to war. I don’t know how to prevent it.’ So he goes off, and Arthur gets ready for war, puts on his armor, and hears this rustling in the bushes and says come out, and it’s a boy. The boy says he wants to fight for King Arthur.” No way to avoid this battle, we tried to build this dream and this hope in this place. I don’t know how to prevent it. Knights are happy.

Tom, the boy, tells Arthur he knows everything – the round table, the ideals of Camelot. Arthur knights him, Miles said, and then sends him back to England instead of the battlefield to talk about that vision, hoping that “maybe what they tried to do will live on,” Miles said. “At the end, he says, ‘Run, boy.’

“I would say to those who want to continue this vision, who are a little afraid that we’re not gonna get there, to take heart. And for the city, I would say, ‘Run, boy.'”