Fort Worth City Council urged to take active role in school improvement

Fort Worth is a city home to some 11 independent school districts, all operated by their own elected school boards. With 160,000 students, 100 school board members, and 12 superintendents, there is a diffusion of authority and, therefore, accountability. As a result, one in three students in Fort Worth are on grade level. A group of local leaders wants to see the Fort Worth City Council expand its oversight role of schools to invigorate improvement efforts. 

“Democracy works,” said Pete Geren, president and CEO of the nonprofit Sid W. Richardson Foundation, of the effort, which he is leading. “The public has to be informed and it has to engage and it has to be persistent.