The president of the Fort Worth ISD state-appointed Board of Managers has responded to a student petition against scripted lessons that’s garnered more than 1,500 signatures online.
Board of Managers President Pete Geren shared a statement on Thursday evening saying he’s glad to see growing student engagement, hopes to see more moving forward and that the concerns raised by students have been received by the board. His response comes after dozens of Fort Worth ISD students, spanning from second grade to 12th grade, published an open letter calling on district leaders to fix scripted lesson plans that contain errors and to loosen the reins on classroom rules teachers and students have been subjected to amid a state takeover.
“Regarding the information, insights, and opinions shared in the petition, they are valuable and timely. Those issues are in front of the board now. I am thankful that we have heard from thousands of residents on the topics addressed by the student petitioners over the last few months, but too few students. Thank you to all who shared their voices with us,” Geren said in a statement, referring to the district’s recent community listening sessions that gathered feedback and informed proposed district goals and guardrails.
Students say scripted slideshows teachers are required to use in the classroom “are often wrong” and sometimes don’t match the accompanying learning guides, according to the letter. Students also said they have seen what appeared to be an AI-generated image in a slideshow for French class.
“Education should be about exploration. We want to go to school to connect with people, discover things, and learn. We want to feel inspired when we walk into a classroom,” students wrote in the letter. “We can’t now, because the rigidity of the new lesson plans and rules makes it almost impossible to explore new ideas, and the dullness of slides and pointless tasks pushes students farther away from learning.”
The uniform lessons came forward as part of a state takeover of Fort Worth ISD that was implemented due to years of lagging academic performance districtwide. However, scripted lessons had been introduced in the district before the Texas Education Agency appointed the nine-member Board of Managers and Superintendent Peter Licata in March.
Fort Worth ISD officials invite input from students and have implemented changes from other student recommendations this school year, officials said in a Wednesday statement.
“Fort Worth ISD is aware of the student petition and appreciates students sharing their perspectives. Superintendent Licata meets regularly with students from across the district. Those conversations range from lunches and athletics to classroom instruction and college opportunities, and several student recommendations have already led to changes this year. That work will continue, and we welcome feedback from every student as we work to provide high-quality instruction in every classroom,” district officials said.
Geren’s response was provided to the Star-Telegram and submitted to change.org staff to be placed on the petition website. As of early Friday afternoon, the full statement had yet to be posted online.
Read Geren’s full statement below:
I commend the students who organized the petition for their leadership, and thank all who signed it for sharing their views with Governor Abbott and Dr. Licata, and indirectly with the school board.
I spent many years in public office and understand the importance and value of citizen engagement with public officials. It is of such fundamental importance for a healthy democracy that our Bill of Rights enshrined the protection of “the right of the people to petition…the government” in the First Amendment.
I welcome student input and have been pleased to see growing student participation in our school board meetings. I hope to see more.
I also want to commend the students’ civics, history, and government teachers who obviously did a good job of educating our students on the rights and responsibilities of citizenship. I will borrow the words of an American immigrant who escaped the Holocaust, “Democracy is not a spectator sport.”
Regarding the information, insights, and opinions shared in the petition, they are valuable and timely. Those issues are in front of the board now. I am thankful that we have heard from thousands of residents on the topics addressed by the student petitioners over the last few months, but too few students. Thank you to all who shared their voices with us.
Civics aside, everyone deserves to be seen, heard, and valued. Those are human rights.
Sincerely,
Pete Geren
Editor’s note: Fort Worth ISD Board of Managers President Pete Geren is the president and chief executive officer of the Sid W. Richardson Foundation, which is a funder of the Star-Telegram’s Crossroads Lab. The Star-Telegram retains independence in all coverage decisions.
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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.