Good luck, y’all. You’re gonna need it.
Fort Worth ISD’s nine locally elected trustees are out as Texas officials stepped in Thursday after years of poor student outcomes.
In the new year, a slate of state-appointed leaders will take over FWISD with its nearly 70,000 students and nearly 10,000 employees, Texas Education Commissioner Mike Morath said during a news conference. Superintendent Karen Molinar’s future is in the hands of Morath, who plans to appoint a superintendent in the spring. Molinar will be a candidate, he said.
“Today nothing is actually changing. The elected school board is still in charge. Superintendent Molinar is still in charge,” Morath said.
Morath launched the second-largest takeover in Texas history, marking the crescendo of Fort Worth ISD’s decade of academic failure. The stagnation resulted in the closure of a school that failed for five straight years. Substantive changes will come to the district next year, he said.
“This action is necessitated, unfortunately, because Fort Worth ISD has seen chronically low levels of support given to students and very low levels of academic performance,” the commissioner said.
Morath vowed the intervention will give students a needed boost. Some community members decried his decision to intervene in a locally directed turnaround just beginning to show progress.
In the meantime, Morath plans to appoint a conservator to oversee current leadership.
In a statement to the Fort Worth Report, school board President Roxanne Martinez said trustees respect the commissioner’s commitment to student success, but they are disappointed with his decision. Trustees want Morath to reconsider his decision because FWISD is heading in the right direction with locally elected leadership, she said.
“Our elected board is in the best position to drive the sustainable improvements the commissioner seeks, with measurable progress already underway,” Martinez said. “We respectfully ask him to reconsider his decision as we continue partnering with families, educators, and state leaders to keep this momentum going for every Fort Worth ISD student.”
During a Thursday morning news conference, Morath announced applications are open for the board of managers who will oversee Fort Worth ISD once the state formally assumes control.
See here and here for some background, and here for a comprehensive timeline of how this all came to be. No question that FWISD has some longstanding issues, and they ironically brought this outcome on themselves by closing the one school whose repeated failures subjected them to the takeover law (because then closing that school was no longer an option), but whether the “cure” will be worthwhile is an open question. I can’t imagine too many HISD parents would recommend the experience. But here we are.
I’ll be very interested to see if the TEA has learned anything from its takeover of HISD. Like, will they appoint a Superintendent who’s less of an asshole and who actually engages with the community? (Note to FWISD: Don’t expect Mike Morath to allow your current Super to stay on.) Will they appoint a Board of Managers that actually has oversight capability and is allowed to exercise it? (I had a hard time typing that without snorting.) Maybe they have and maybe FWISD will benefit from it. If so, then you’re welcome, FWISD. If not, let this serve as an example of why the takeover law needs its own major overhaul. The Trib and the Fort Worth Report have more.