Some folks will get the chance.
Business leaders will get a closer look at school district takeovers this week when the Fort Worth Chamber of Commerce tours Houston schools.
The Fort Worth team wants to learn how the state’s 2023 takeover of Houston Independent School District impacted the Greater Houston Partnership and businesses in the area.
“It’s a fact-finding trip,” said Steve Montgomery, president and CEO of the Fort Worth chamber. “We had been talking to their government affairs guy and he was saying, ‘Be sure you do this,’ and ‘Don’t do this,’ so we decided to learn all we could because we don’t really know.”
Montgomery, Mayor Mattie Parker and other business leaders say it’s too early to know the impact of Texas taking control of FWISD on Fort Worth’s economic development efforts.
A strong public education system is key to attracting and retaining companies in North Texas, business leaders say. Incentives matter, but so does having a sizable talented workforce in the fast-growing city. Above all, they said, the business community must support the 67,500 students in Fort Worth ISD because they are the region’s future workforce.
“What I do know is that we’ve got leaders, Mayor Parker, superintendent leadership, that are laser-focused on delivering the best possible results for every student with Fort Worth ISD,” said Robert Allen, president and CEO of the Fort Worth Economic Development Partnership. “At the end of the day, that’s what matters most.”
The intervention — which includes appointing a board of managers and a superintendent — could impact such recruitment, said Michelle Green-Ford, president and CEO of the Fort Worth Metropolitan Black Chamber of Commerce.
“Anything that reflects negatively on our school district and education as a whole has an adverse effect on companies who may want to consider relocating here,” she said in a statement.
Some business leaders said they were disappointed that Texas Education Commissioner Mike Morath will name new FWISD leadership in the spring. He appointed a conservator on Nov. 6 who will monitor progress and has the authority to overturn local decisions in the district.
They point to Superintendent Karen Molinar’s progress since she took over as Fort Worth ISD chief in March. Molinar, who has worked nearly three decades in the district, is a candidate in Morath’s national search for superintendent.
However, many expected state intervention after years of failing schools. One campus missing state academic standards five years in a row triggered the Texas law that required the takeover.
See here, here, and here for some background. The article doesn’t say anything about the Chamber’s agenda – how many schools they’ll visit, who will chaperone them, who else they’ll be talking to – so I can’t say if they’re likely to get an informed view or a propaganda tour. I’d certainly encourage them to get outside whatever bubble Mike Miles would like to wrap them in. I’m not saying they should spend their entire trip with Community Voices for Public Education and other Miles critics, but at least one conversation with them would be strongly advised. Either try to get a full picture or save your money. We’ll see what they do.