Dallas ISD

Dallas Public Schools: Should We Stay or Should We Go Now?

By Bethany Erickson / November 18, 2014 /

  When my husband bought the home we live in now – a 1950s bungalow in Midway Hollow – he was a bachelor. He told me several times during our courtship that he bought the house thinking that he would sell it when he got married, because three bedrooms and ONE bathroom is kind of…

Are Arbitrary School District Boundaries Distorting Real Estate Values?

By Joanna England / August 20, 2014 /

A recent column by Heather Wilhelm highlights a huge issue in America: In order to get into a good public school, you often have to spend more on a home. Heck, brokerages have developed search tools to help you focus on the school attendance areas you want, weeding out perfectly good homes that have imperfect…

With Home Rule Commission in Place, Is Dallas on Track to Bring Back the Middle Class?

By Joanna England / June 24, 2014 /

Both Dallas Mayor Mike Rawlings and Fort Worth Mayor Betsy Price said that education is one of the major issues facing North Texas. But other than outright dissolution or breaking up the urban districts, advocates and officials are scrambling for ways to fix underperforming schools and disaffected communities. The idea that has gained the most…

Could Home Rule be a Boon For Homeowners? As Families Flee Dallas ISD For Suburban Districts, Better Schools May Bring Them Back

By Joanna England / March 12, 2014 /

It’s on the lips of just about every mom in my neighborhood: What will this home rule proposal mean for our failing neighborhood elementary? Will it mean we won’t have to spend an arm and a leg for private school, or uproot our family for the suburbs? That’s exactly what’s happening right now, and Dallas…

Friday Four Hundred: This Cottage is Sitting Pretty in Old Lake Highlands

By Joanna England / March 7, 2014 /

There are some really, really adorable cottages in Old Lake Highlands, which is actually much closer to White Rock Lake than many of the areas under the “Lake Highlands” moniker. This area is just east of Peavy, and some of the homes actually have lake views (and some of the lots with lake views will…