Education Brief
Fort Worth schools going under state control
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Texas Education Agency commissioner Mike Morath announced the state will take over Fort Worth ISD. Photo: Mikala Compton/Austin American-Statesman via Getty Images
Houston ISD can provide a blueprint for Fort Worth ISD's future after the Texas Education Agency announced Thursday the state will take over the district.
Why it matters: Just 34% of Fort Worth students are performing at grade level, lower than the percentage in other large districts, including Houston and Dallas.
The big picture: Fort Worth is now the second largest school district, after Houston ISD, to be taken over by the TEA. It's the 11th state takeover since 2000.
- Houston ISD remains under TEA control until at least 2027.
The latest: An appointed board of managers will run FWISD in lieu of its elected school board, and state officials will select a conservator to track progress. The board will be made up of locals, TEA commissioner Mike Morath said in the letter to the district Thursday.
- Morath will also appoint a superintendent. The current district leader, Karen Molinar, will be considered for the role.
Zoom out: Houston's schools are now performing better since the 2023 state takeover. The appointed superintendent, former Dallas superintendent Mike Miles, has been unpopular among teachers and parents.
- Miles implemented the New Education System, which uses a standardized curriculum, longer hours on campus, timed lessons and turning libraries into "Team Centers," per the Houston Chronicle. The model was expanded into 130 campuses last school year.
- 197 of Houston's 273 campuses earned A or B ratings this year, up from 93 with such ratings before the state takeover.
Friction point: Some HISD parents have complained the learning environment has become rigid and focused solely on test scores. And a Houston teachers union complained after Miles received a $173,660 bonus in September, saying the amount is far higher than any teacher's yearly salary.
Zoom in: Fort Worth ISD officials expected the state takeover. In May, Morath told school officials that he was reviewing the district's operations because one campus repeatedly received failing grades in the state's accountability ratings.
- That school was closed at the end of the 2023 school year, but Texas law requires the state to take over a district if any of its campuses receive unacceptable ratings for five consecutive years.
By the numbers: The district was given a D rating in April, with 77 of its 138 campuses receiving a D or F for the 2023 school year.
- FWISD improved to a C in the most recent accountability ratings.
The bottom line: Morath wrote that the takeover is about more than a single failing school, saying "multi-year unacceptable ratings represent a school district's most fundamental mission failure."