Joyce Foreman

Early voting has begun for the May 7 joint elections, which feature many ISD races. As I wrote about in my May column in D Magazine, this is an especially crucial vote for Dallas ISD, with four seats up for grabs. I point out that, contrary to popular opinion, the school board has overcome status quo efforts to maintain the status quo, putting in place important reforms that will help poor kids throughout the district. (Which, in turn, will help the city at large.) Since I wrote that column about six weeks ago, one race has become awash in nastiness. Which happens, right? It's local politics. Except this time, that nastiness includes not just political operatives but also City Council members. In fact, the council members have become political operatives in these ISD races in ways that make me very queasy, in part because the folks doing this include people I admire and consider friends. Which means this is not going to be fun. Let's do a little FAQ to get you caught up:

We'll see what the DMN news pages do on Sunday

We'll see what the DMN does this Sunday with its bond coverage

Jim Schutze talks education and city politics

Jim Schutze from the Dallas Observer drops knowledge.