Teachers Megan Breedlove, Ale Checka and Karen Gonzalez were eager for improvements when Angélica Ramsey became Fort Worth ISD superintendent in fall 2022.
More than two years later, they say their hopes were dashed after promises of a better school district were made but never delivered. Instead, the educators said, they deal with mounds of paperwork to meet district leaders’ call for data-driven instruction; technology issues that plague students and staff; and campuses that are limited in managing discipline issues.
Still, they remain hopeful that meaningful change will come after Mayor Mattie Parker described Fort Worth ISD as “unacceptable” and called for a plan to turn around the school district. The teachers who talked to the Fort Worth Report felt emboldened to speak out after Parker’s address showed the school district had reached a boiling point.
“We currently have no sense there is a plan for anything,” Checka, who’s taught since 2008 and is a former district teacher of the year, said. “I think it is time for new leadership.”
The Report contacted more than a dozen current and former Fort Worth ISD educators, but many said they were afraid to speak out over concerns about possible retaliation from the school district — a point a teacher emphasized during a recent school board meeting.
Scott Blanco-Davis, a middle school science teacher at World Languages Institute, told trustees Sept. 10 that a group of longtime educators who have a combined 400 years of experience asked him to voice their concerns because they were fearful of possible reprisal from administration.
“They won’t even let me tell you what school they’re in because now they just want to be left alone,” said Blanco-Davis, who occasionally speaks during school board meetings.
The three teachers who the Report interviewed said they hoped their words would lead to solutions for the district.
“There seems to be this attitude that, if we could only think of the right program, then all these problems would be solved,” said Breedlove, a Spanish and French teacher at McLean Middle School in her 11th year of teaching. “They’re ignoring those of us on the frontlines who know what it takes to solve the problems.”
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Data-driven instruction issues
Checka, an eighth-grade English teacher at Applied Learning Academy, a school of choice, questioned district administrators’ priorities. Before Ramsey’s superintendency, campus-level employees didn’t worry about marketing their campus or performing tasks outside the school’s scope of teaching students, Checka said.
Last school year, campus principals visited more than 40 elementary schools to tell students and families to enroll at Applied Learning Academy. Previously, district-level administrators handled marketing and recruitment for the campus, not principals, Checka said.
“I didn’t have to know those titles because I’m just concerned with teaching books in my classroom and, many steps above me, things were taken care of,” she said. “All of a sudden, I’m now aware that those titles existed and that those roles existed — because they’re gone.”
In response to Fort Worth Report questions about the teachers’ concerns, district spokesperson Jessica Becerra explained the district’s rationale in an emailed statement.
“Schools of choice operate in a highly competitive educational landscape, and empowering campus-level staff with marketing and recruitment responsibilities allows for a more authentic, localized engagement with the community,” Becerra said. “Principals, as the leaders of their school communities, are best positioned to authentically engage with parents, students and community members.”
Ramsey hired new administrators from outside of the district, while people who understood Fort Worth moved on, said Gonzalez, who has taught in Fort Worth ISD for more than 30 years.
“They may bring a certain amount of expertise that we need, but you don’t throw out everything,” she said of the current administration. “Because there are people who know things that you’re getting rid of and that information is lost. They’re having to reinvent things and they’re not doing it very well.”
Fort Worth ISD is confident it can blend viewpoints from seasoned educators and new team members to serve the needs of students and families, Becerra said.
“While transitions naturally occur, the district is committed to preserving institutional knowledge through mentorship, collaboration, and continuity planning. Our new staff bring fresh perspectives and experiences that complement the deep understanding of those who have long served in the district,” Becerra said.
For Checka and Gonzalez, the newly assigned duties push them and their principals away from their roles in the classroom and campus. Both teachers feel micromanaged to the point that it’s counterproductive to student learning.
Data is needed to inform teaching, but educators cannot be bogged down by paperwork that takes time away from instruction, said Gonzalez, an English language arts and social studies teacher at McLean Sixth Grade.
Administration’s data-driven instruction mandate means teachers cannot stray from curriculum even when student needs require that concepts be reinforced or less to be taught in a different way, Gonzalez said.
“It seems like they’re trying to make teaching into a science and ignore the art that is involved in teaching. This has a tremendous impact on children,” Gonzalez said.
Teachers face micromanagement with excessive meetings, Checka said, and tons of paperwork making sure state standards are being taught. She called them “adult-facing tasks.”
“Unfortunately — this is what happens — the lower your (students’) test scores, the more your workday becomes proportionately more adult-facing tasks,” she said. “You have less time for students, and then the problem gets worse.”
Patty Gill, a math teacher at Daggett Elementary, told a Dallas-based TV station that she has more freedom to teach in a way she thinks is best under Ramsey’s leadership, which she said empowered her and others.
In the statement, Becerra outlined the district’s commitment to integrating data-driven instruction with traditional teaching methods.
“Fort Worth ISD is working to seamlessly bridge the art and science of teaching by combining teacher intuition and relationships with the power of data-driven instruction,” Becerra said. “Through continuous assessments, educators gather detailed insights that allow them to adapt instruction to meet individual student needs.”
The statement also elaborated on the support systems in place, like professional learning communities, which enable teachers to collaborate and effectively use data to inform instructional strategies.
“By leveraging purposeful, ongoing assessments, teachers can monitor student progress in real time and make adjustments to ensure every learner receives the appropriate level of support,” Becerra said.
Checka and Gonzalez both hope to be given more instructional time in the future, they said, adding that the amount of time students spend in testing is also counterproductive to their learning.
Checka’s eighth-grade students spend a total of 26 instructional days each school year in testing, she said. These include district-required assessments, the state-required State of Texas Assessments of Academic, or STAAR, tests and state-incentivized Measures of Academic Progress tests, or MAP, a test administered at the beginning, middle and end of the school year by the Northwest Evaluation Association.
“That’s a month in which I could have taught a novel,” Checka said.
Academic achievement in Fort Worth ISD needs improvement, Gonzalez and Checka said. However, the administration’s approach is an overcorrection that ultimately harms students, they said.
Layoffs affect technology
Classrooms and students are feeling the effects of employee layoffs in the district’s technology department, Breedlove and Gonzalez said. In February, the school board approved Ramsey’s call for the elimination of 112 jobs, which affected the technology department.
Some students’ MacBooks were not ready by the start of the school year, making some regular classroom tasks such as testing difficult, Gonzalez said.
The rollout of Canvas, a website where students get assignments and receive grades, has been bumpy. Some of Gonzalez’s students have not been able to access the site.
During a Sept. 10 school board workshop, trustee Tobi Jackson questioned when technology issues would be resolved, specifically when all students will have their own device after weeks of delays.
Deputy Superintendent Mohammed Choudhury said tech problems should be resolved by the end of September.
Two major issues impacted student device rollout, Becerra said.
First, MacBooks had a software issue in which they would disconnect from district Wi-Fi after batteries were completely discharged and turned back on.
“We worked with our partners at Apple to fix this issue. Unfortunately, we could not push this update automatically. The technology team worked overtime and manually recovered all impacted devices by Aug. 28,” Becerra said.
The other tech problem involved an issue with automated syncing between the district student information system and device management that results in login snags.
Fort Worth ISD worked with Mosyle, the company responsible for both systems, to manually sync both databases so students could log in to their devices, and a successful test occurred Sept. 7 and 8, Becerra said. Administrators plan to monitor before permanently enabling automatic syncing.
“Currently, there are no technical issues, and we are working closely with individual campuses to identify and fix any issues,” Becerra said.
Interactive touch-based boards in classrooms have gone years without upgrades at both McLean campuses. Gonzalez’s board used to be interactive but now she uses it as a projector screen, she said. Breedlove put in a request at the end of last school year to fix a broken board. A few weeks into the school year, it hasn’t been fixed, she said.
“This is not something that should be happening in 2024,” Gonzalez said.
With rapidly changing technology and normal wear and tear, the boards face both software and hardware compatibility issues, Becerra said.
“Our mission is to empower students, educators, and staff through technology,” Becerra said. “To remediate these gaps, we are working on the process of identifying a vendor, receiving board approval, and defining an implementation plan to replace legacy boards.”
‘Meaningful consequences’ for discipline
The school district also needs to hold students and families accountable for actions, or lack thereof, when appropriate, Breedlove said.
“The most effective instruction cannot happen while we’re spending so much effort getting little Johnny to quiet down,” she said. “God forbid we should try to hold someone accountable and give some meaningful consequences rather than telling teachers to try harder.”
When teachers and principals make discipline reports, Breedlove said, they’re often blamed for the problems.
“It’s part of a principal’s job to remove whatever impediment she can, and the district isn’t allowing them to do that because sometimes they’re too busy filling out reports,” she said. “They might want to take action but they know if they do so, it’s going to come back on them and they’re going to have to justify it.”
Discipline needs to be kept simple, Gonzalez said. One misbehaving student impacts the learning environment of other students in a classroom.
“If our district were to take on discipline right and really focus on that, you would find out that student outcomes increase,” Gonzalez said.
The district appreciates feedback from educators about its discipline policies and understands the impact classroom behavior can have on learning, Becerra said. Administrators are open to hearing from teachers and other school staff on discipline policies and their rollout.
Fort Worth ISD’s focus on strengthening traditional classroom instruction will lead to a better learning environment, where students are actively involved and behavior issues are mitigated before they become a larger problem, Becerra said.
“We are continuously assessing and reviewing how best to support our educators while maintaining a positive environment for our students,” Becerra said. “By working collaboratively with our school leaders and staff, we aim to ensure that our policies are aligned with the needs of both our teachers and students.”
Hope remains
Checka doesn’t want to play the blame game. Blame is counterproductive, she said, and makes it seem as though there are ill-intentioned parties at play.
“I don’t think that’s true,” Checka said. “Even legislators that I deeply disagree with who should have passed the state funding bill while sitting on what is a $30 billion surplus.”
Those legislators should have known the impact a lack of funding would have on school districts, she said. Likewise, Fort Worth ISD must better analyze the future impacts of its decisions, she said.
“Sometimes, you just don’t seem to grasp that this decision that you are making is causing this output,” Checka said.
Despite the hurdles and commotion about district leadership, the teachers remain hopeful about the future of Fort Worth ISD. Everyone truly cares about each and every student, Breedlove said.
“Teachers want to provide the best possible care and service to all students,” she said.
The best way to put the school district back on track? Make the expertise of the teacher be the driving force in Fort Worth ISD, the educators said.
The last time Gonzalez felt the administration let teachers push the district forward was in the late 2000s, she said. Teachers know what they’re doing.
“Give us the car that’s tuned up with good tires and let us go,” Gonzalez said.
Matthew Sgroi is an education reporter for the Fort Worth Report. Contact him at matthew.sgroi@fortworthreport.org or @MatthewSgroi1.
Jacob Sanchez is a senior education reporter for the Fort Worth Report. Contact him at jacob.sanchez@fortworthreport.org or @_jacob_sanchez.
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.
This article first appeared on Fort Worth Report and is republished here under a Creative Commons license.
