Texas Education Agency taking over Fort Worth ISD

Texas Tribune ^ | 10/23/25 | Jaden Edison and Ayden Runnels

[DallasBiff]

The Texas Education Agency will remove the Fort Worth Independent School District’s elected board members and may appoint a new superintendent to oversee its operations, Commissioner Mike Morath announced Thursday morning.

The decision to assume control of the North Texas district follows months of speculation about how the state would respond to one of the Fort Worth campuses not meeting Texas’ academic accountability standards for five consecutive years. The district closed the sixth-grade campus at the end of the 2023-24 school year, but Morath indicated in the spring that state law still required him to intervene.

Dallas’ local news station WFAA first reported news about the takeover Wednesday evening.

In a statement Wednesday night, the district said it was aware of media reports about state action but would wait for an official announcement before sharing information with families.

“Our focus remains on our students by providing uninterrupted learning,” the statement read. “We are grateful to our educators and staff for their continuous commitment to our students and families.”

[DallasBiff]

Good, I say, time to get failed dei administrators out of their cushy jobs.

[Fido969]

A quick search for expense budgets over the last 4 years:

22-23 819 million

23-24 846 million

24-25 844 million

25-26 869 million

[texas booster]

A ping out to the Texas Ping list, founded by Windflier.

DallasBiff just beat me to posting this. 5 years of failed testing, or slow raising the scores, and the TEA decides to take over as they have done a few times before. Just not on as big a scale. This will definitely prove to be interesting.

Main change is the loss of local trustee control. But no big loss, they acted as the Supers personal posse anyway.

Another special Texas summer edition for your perusal.

As always, please FReepmail me if you want on or off the Texas Ping list.

Blessings, and stay cool!

[TheBattman]

I always cringe when I see a state booting the locally-elected school board and installing its own superintendent. While the need is often there, what will be installed? For Texas - is an Austin Socialist any better?

As to this particular case - the same campus failing 5 consecutive years? how? why? Why was that “allowed”? or were there measures attempted to fix the problem, and the district finally gave up and closed the campus (as it seems)?

Also - what was “unique” about that campus that it “couldn’t meet standards 5 consecutive years? anyone care to share?

[Fido969]

Meanwhile they keep complaining about “cuts”.

School spend high 6-figure salaries for superintendents, six figure salaries for principals, gold plated benefits and pension plans for teachers, and spend tens of millions of dollars on new buildings.

Meanwhile, the parents have to hold bake sales so the kids can buy pencils and school supplies.

[TheBattman]

SHOCK!!!! Increased funding didn’t fix the problem?

[Leaning Right]

I taught for many years in an inner-city high school (not in Texas). Early in my career I taught basic math classes. Some observations:

1. Each of my classes averaged 25 students. On any given day, at least half of them would be absent. This was the norm for all the basic classes in the school. We teachers followed protocol. Reported the problem. Tried to call the parents. Etc. Nothing helped.

2. Each of my classes had at least two or three very disruptive students. If even one of them showed up, I was no longer a teacher. I was a police officer trying to keep order. Again, following protocol didn’t help.

Put those two problems together, and you’ll see why inner-city tests scores are so low.

More money won’t help. An entirely new approach is needed. And since school administrators are mostly woke DEI folks now, that new approach just ain’t gonna happen.

It’s a lost cause.

[nagant]

When Texas took over the Houston Independent School District, Texas governor Abbot put Mike Miles in charge. Miles was/is the owner of a few private schools which accept and school troubled and problem students.

Miles set about making only one major change. Miles changed HISD testing standards so as to insure that a major portion of HISD students would be referred to his private schools.

Miles is a truly worthless administrator who only made HISD worse. By his example Fort Worth is headed for a downhill ride.

[Carl Vehse]

The TEA should take over the Austin Independent School District’s administration of at least twelve schools that have failing scores for the past three years.

In the meantime, after going nearly $20 million in debt, incompetent (or worse) AISD leftists are talking about closing some of the schools and redistricting other schools (i.e., bussing some intelligent students across town to bring up the test scores for the failing schools).

Of course, after the 20%-property-tax-hike Proposition Q passes in Nov., one wonders if there will be many families with intelligent kids still living in the Peoples’ Socialist Kakistocracy of Austin.

[T-Bird45]

Re:your item #2 on the difficulty of the inner city classroom - do we need to consult Yogi & Boo-boo on who were the perpetrators or will we get it on our first guess???

[Leaning Right]

It’s complicated. You probably wouldn’t get it on your first guess.

The day-to-day troublemakers were almost always black. These were the kids who would (loudly) use their cell phones in class, and refuse to put it away. Or talk to other students during class. Or walk around the room while the teacher was trying to teach.

But the few real psychos were almost always white. These kids were cold, and very sly. I wouldn’t turn my back on any of them.

Interesting distinction, eh?

[T-Bird45]

From the Yogi & Boo-boo perspective, it appears I could have gotten it right by the prevalence of the first group over the second in just considering the numbers or demographics in an inner-city setting. However, I will admit the second group was one I probably would never have guessed. I spent some time as an instructor on manufacturing skills development in a couple of high school buildings that were for those who couldn’t conform themselves to regular classroom standards so I can identify with the behavior challenges you describe. The euphemistic title for the schools was “alternative school.”

[Wallace T.]

Only 11% of the Fort Worth ISD students are non-Hispanic whites and they are probably mostly in suburban Benbrook or some affluent areas on the west side. Almost two-thirds of the students are Hispanic, with another 20% being black.

[PAR35]

Well, when an individual school repeatedly has bad results, despite changes in admins and teachers, the problem may well lie with the parents, not the school.

[fwdude]

TEA is just as incompetent and woke leftist. Out of the frying pan...

[gildafarrell]

Would be nice if the NEA were disbanded along with each state’s subsidiary of the NEA. Think of the money saved in each teacher’s pocket.

[luvie]

TEXAS
Good decision. Now then...
do it ALL over the state.
ALL the schools are crap!

[Jane Long]

EXCELLENT start!

Now, do this statewide AND fire the d@m union and any commie teachers and admin/principals.

[djstex]

Thank you as always for the Texas ping!

[eastexsteve]

My wife worked there for a few years. Fort Worth ISD has been DEIed and woke for many years now. We saw this coming. They couldn’t liberalize the local government, so they went for the school district.