Students break down a word using the Neuhaus method during class at Starpoint School on Thursday, Sept. 17, 2026. Starpoint is a laboratory school that focuses on education for students with learning difficulties like dyslexia.
Amanda McCoy
FORT WORTH STAR-TELEGRAM
The Texas Education Agency is offering eligible families $400 for literacy tutoring if their child failed the state’s third-grade reading exam last school year.
The Parent Access to Supplemental Supports, or PASS program, launched this fall for Texas public school students and is being advertised by Tarrant County education groups and districts, including Fort Worth ISD. Families can use the funding for tutoring outside of school at TEA-approved providers such as brick-and-mortar tutors, virtual tutors, or state-designated, top-performing teachers. All of the roughly 105,000 Texas students who meet eligibility criteria can receive funding if their parents apply for the program, creating a possible total allotment of $42 million, according to TEA officials.
“PASS is designed to give families flexibility in selecting tutoring services that best meet their individual scheduling and logistical needs,” TEA officials said in a statement. “This approach provides options that accommodate different family schedules, locations and preferences. Families work directly with their selected provider to determine the timing and logistics of tutoring services.”
In spring 2026, there were 1,650 third-graders in Fort Worth ISD who did not meet grade level on the STAAR, or State of Texas Assessments of Academic Readiness exam, in reading. These students account for 42.5% of all third-graders districtwide who took the exam in English and Spanish. The district has been under a state takeover since March due to years of stagnant academic performance.
Trenace Dorsey-Hollins, executive director of Parent Shield Fort Worth, said she’s excited about the program and the opportunity for parents to get access to additional instruction for their child outside of the classroom. Parent Shield has been raising awareness of the program to principals and parents in Fort Worth, Crowley, Everman and Eagle-Mountain Saginaw ISDs and is also an approved PASS program provider.
“We want as many parents as we can to take advantage. That’s why I’ve been partnering with other community leaders across Texas. Because yes, I want Fort Worth and Tarrant County to take advantage of it completely, but I want other kids all throughout Texas to take advantage of these funds,” Dorsey-Hollins said.
As of Thursday, there were 19 providers listed in Fort Worth on the PASS program portal.
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Lina Ruiz covers early childhood education in Tarrant County and North Texas for the Fort Worth Star-Telegram. A University of Florida graduate, she previously wrote about local government in South Florida for TCPalm and Treasure Coast Newspapers.