Mayor Mattie Parker paused, seeking the right word.<\/p>\n
Fear came to mind first, but she said that\u2019s not the word. What she has heard from Fort Worth ISD parents as a result of Texas taking over the 60,000-student district in March<\/a> is more complicated.<\/p>\n Anxiety<\/a>.<\/p>\n Parker and state Rep. Nicole Collier, D-Fort Worth, each discussed the takeover Wednesday during an event hosted by The Texas Tribune at Texas Christian University. Both said the state\u2019s takeover process leaves key questions unanswered.<\/p>\n \u201cI always knew it was going to be a difficult transition, and that\u2019s understandable,\u201d Parker said.<\/p>\n FWISD needed change<\/a>, Parker and Collier said.\u00a0<\/p>\n The state needs to give school districts enough time for a locally led turnaround, Collier said. But the legislator noted it shouldn\u2019t be too much time.<\/p>\n Intervention happens<\/a> when a school or a district receives five straight F\u2019s in the state\u2019s academic accountability system, which is mostly based on STAAR. The threshold triggers a consideration by the Texas education commissioner on whether to either close down a failing school or replace a locally elected school board<\/a> and superintendent with state appointees.<\/p>\n Collier sees a flaw in the law: Elected trustees are sidelined the entire time without any power. She is proposing a bill that creates a continuity board that allows for a smooth transition of power from the state-appointed board of managers back to elected trustees.<\/p>\n \u201cWhat if the board of managers don\u2019t do well? Why do you keep them in place?\u201d Collier said. \u201cThey said that they were supposed to evaluate the progress of the school (district) within two years. If you haven\u2019t done anything, you just need to give it back.\u201d<\/p>\n Parker called Collier\u2019s proposal an interesting idea. Elected trustees sit waiting to return \u2014 yet still run for election \u2014 and meanwhile have no governing power, she said.<\/p>\n \u201cThat\u2019s real confusing,\u201d Parker said.<\/p>\n The mayor recalled lawmakers saying no district would let a school fail long enough to trigger a takeover.<\/p>\n \u201cIf that wasn\u2019t anticipated, did they really think about sustainability long term for local communities and school boards?\u201d Parker asked.<\/p>\n None of that immediately eases parental anxiety about the takeover. Parker pointed to curriculum changes<\/a>, which she said have been a lot for teachers and students.\u00a0<\/p>\n Parents tell the mayor they aren\u2019t receiving clear communication from FWISD administration and that central office leadership lacks a real understanding of the community<\/a>.<\/p>\n Improving student outcomes<\/a> and schools are necessary for Fort Worth and Texas, Parker said. But she noted something got lost in that discussion: the importance of teachers.<\/p>\n \u201cI don\u2019t think the intervention process gets any better in Fort Worth or anywhere else for that matter, if we don\u2019t return to that respect for the teaching profession and making sure they feel supported,\u201d she said.\u00a0<\/p>\n Jacob Sanchez is education editor for the Fort Worth Report. Contact him at jacob.sanchez@fortworthreport.org<\/a> or @_jacob_sanchez<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n Disclosure: FWISD manager Pete Geren leads the Sid W. Richardson Foundation, a financial supporter of the Fort Worth Report. FWISD manager Laurie George is a member of the Report\u2019s reader advisory council. At the Fort Worth Report, news decisions are made independently of our board members and financial supporters. Read more about our editorial independence policy here<\/a>.<\/p>\n This <a target=”_blank” href=”https:\/\/fortworthreport.org\/2026\/10\/08\/mayor-texas-lawmaker-say-fort-worth-isd-takeover-leaves-key-questions-unanswered\/”>article<\/a> first appeared on <a target=”_blank” href=”https:\/\/fortworthreport.org”>Fort Worth Report<\/a> and is republished here under a <a target=”_blank” href=”https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by-nd\/4.0\/”>Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License<\/a>.<img src=”https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/fortworthreport.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/cropped-favicon.png?resize=150%2C150&ssl=1″ style=”width:1em;height:1em;margin-left:10px;”><\/p>\n <img id=”republication-tracker-tool-source” src=”https:\/\/fortworthreport.org\/?republication-pixel=true&post=821583&ga4=2820184429″ style=”width:1px;height:1px;”><script> PARSELY = { autotrack: false, onload: function() { PARSELY.beacon.trackPageView({ url: “https:\/\/fortworthreport.org\/2026\/10\/08\/mayor-texas-lawmaker-say-fort-worth-isd-takeover-leaves-key-questions-unanswered\/”, urlref: window.location.href }); } } <\/script> <script id=”parsely-cfg” src=”\/\/cdn.parsely.com\/keys\/fortworthreport.org\/p.js”><\/script>