Even as I write this, Mayor Tom Leppert and DISD Supt. Michael Hinojosa are placing phone calls to the homes of a few of the 30,000 students who didn’t show up for the first weeks of public school. The Observer reports that after finishing off this made-for-media event today, Leppert and Hinojosa plan to hit the streets Saturday to knock on doors looking for the missing students. No word on what’s going to happen when/if they find one — presumably, the student will see the error of his or her ways, be undyingly grateful to Leppert and Hinojosa, and one day will return to write a guest column for the Dallas News opinion pages about how his/her life was turned around thanks to this effort. Maybe he or she will even intern with Rod Dreher! Seriously, I hope that happens (well, not necessarily the Dreher part), but I’m not holding my breath. The kids who don’t turn up at school aren’t unaware that school has started; either they or their parents are choosing to blow it off, and I don’t think a visit from this dynamic duo is going to change that. Let’s hope I’m wrong, though.