Fort Worth ISD shifts $22.7M to support renewed literacy focus. Here’s how

Superintendent Karen Molinar cut to the chase: Fort Worth ISD hasn’t been working for students.

Throwing money at persistently low academic achievement hasn’t worked.

Jobs with adults overseeing adults haven’t worked.

Waiting for the Texas Legislature for more money hasn’t worked.

During the course of an hour-and-a-half presentation March 25, Molinar introduced a wide-sweeping restructuring of instruction focused on creating a reading renaissance. She shifted $22.7 million to supporting reading and math instruction, including the elimination of 19 job titles affecting more than 160 current employees.

In an 8-0 vote, trustees approved a resolution outlining Molinar’s system changes. Trustee Tobi Jackson was absent.

“The current state of our performance demands that we have urgency with how we’re budgeting and reallocating our district and our staff funding toward literacy and math,” Molinar said. “Our kids can’t wait a year.”

The plan aligns with the district’s strategic plan and student literacy resolution, Molinar said, both of which prioritize early reading proficiency and measurable student growth.

The proposed redesign comes as Fort Worth ISD attempts to turn itself around and home in on improving literacy. The restructuring is part of the district’s larger effort to put its money where its mouth is and infuse literacy into its nearly $1 billion budget.

Only 35% of Fort Worth ISD students are reading on grade level and just 26% are meeting standards in math. For Algebra I — an indicator of college readiness — the number drops to 19%.

Trustee Camille Rodriguez leaned into her microphone.

“How long will it take to fully implement this?” she asked.

“The first day of school,” Molinar said.

The cornerstone of Molinar’s redesign is the phasing out of central office and campus instructional support roles in favor of new “demonstration teacher” positions that work directly with students — and are evaluated based on student outcomes.

“We are going to be laser-focused on literacy and math support for our students,” Molinar said.

The demonstration teacher roles replace instructional coaches and deans of instruction at every campus. These new instructors will split their time between modeling instruction for peers and teaching state-tested subjects themselves.

Effectively, Molinar said, they will be practicing what they preach.

Each elementary school will have one reading-focused demonstration teacher. Every middle and high school will have two — one each in English and math.

The existing positions are professional staff. Under the redesign, the roles will be considered teachers.

That means they will be able to tap into the state’s Teacher Incentive Allotment program, which rewards teachers financially based on student academic growth. Teachers in the new roles would be eligible for that funding and, potentially, additional compensation tied to pending state legislation.

The shift marks a philosophical change for the district — from what officials describe as an adult-centered coaching model to one that prioritizes measurable student outcomes.

“This isn’t about what they didn’t do. They did everything we asked them to do.” she said of current instructional coaches and content staff. “However, we are not seeing the impact on our student achievement.”

Right now, the district cannot determine whether instructional coaches and deans of instruction impact student outcomes.

“When we look at our scores, it’s not impacting our students. That’s the reality,” Molinar said. “This redesign shows we’re doing something to target that.”

Molinar also introduced what she described as the collapsing of layers in the district’s instructional leadership structure.

She eliminated area superintendents who acted as a middleman between the deputy superintendent of learning and leading and executive directors overseeing campus leadership and certain subjects.

Now, executive directors will report directly to the deputy superintendent. The executive directors are:

• One each overseeing principals for elementary, middle and high schools.
• A literacy executive director overseeing dyslexia efforts and directors for elementary and secondary reading instruction.
• A director each for math, science and social studies. 

One of the biggest shifts is moving dyslexia away from Fort Worth ISD’s special education department to embedding it directly into instructional leadership.

Under special education, it becomes more about compliance and paperwork than truly helping students, Molinar said. That leads to missing too many undiagnosed students.

“Dyslexia is illiteracy. Dyslexia is a literacy opportunity,” the superintendent said.

The $22.7 million reallocation includes:

• $18.4 million for the instructional support redesign
• $625,000 for school leadership restructure
• $3.7 million in changes to curriculum support and learning leadership

The money will pay not only for the demonstration teachers, but also will fund new curriculum coordinators and 34 “acceleration teachers” focused on small-group tutoring.

Acceleration teachers could earn performance stipends of up to $10,000 based on student growth.

In another change — separate from the $22.7 reallocation — Fort Worth ISD will overhaul its middle school schedule by introducing block scheduling, effectively doubling the amount of time students spend in literacy and math-related subjects each day.

The move also aims to give teachers more time for instruction, targeted intervention and student support, especially in core subjects where academic performance has lagged.

Trustee Wallace Bridges was at a loss for words following Molinar’s presentation.

As the superintendent spoke, he saw flashes of faces in his mind. Each person he thought of was someone who had flagged an issue that the superintendent now was addressing, he said.

“You’re echoing the voices I hear, from teachers to parents — the whole nine yards,” Bridges said.

Initially, Bridges feared the challenges were so deep that the new administration would just toss money at them in an attempt to solve the problem. Molinar’s presentation was anything but that, he said.

“I feel and see the sense of urgency of what we’re doing,” the trustee said.

Trustee Rodriguez wanted to know how soon Molinar expects to see results. The superintendent said she wasn’t sure, but expects scores to go up.

She based her expectation on the high-dosage tutoring she rolled out during the fall 2024 semester. Within five weeks, the district saw increases on a mid-year test among students who received the tutoring.

“We’re going to see the change,” Molinar said.

Jacob Sanchez is a senior education reporter for the Fort Worth Report. Contact him at jacob.sanchez@fortworthreport.org or @_jacob_sanchez. 

Matthew Sgroi is an education reporter for the Fort Worth Report. Contact him at matthew.sgroi@fortworthreport.org or @matthewsgroi1. 

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.