By Bill Zeeble, KERA News
http://stream.publicbroadcasting.net/production/mp3/kera/local-kera-966907.mp3
Dallas, TX – A mayor's role in public education has become campaign fodder in the Fort Worth mayor's race. KERA's Bill Zeeble talked to the five hopefuls vying to be Fort Worth's next mayor, on their ideas to improve education.
All five candidates agree on this: Fort Worth needs good schools to train future leaders, workers, and effective citizens. They say top schools also attract employers and their families. But they lacked specifics on what they could do to guarantee great schools. So it's interesting that this race's most controversial issue so far involved education. Last week, candidate and former city council member Cathy Hirt, mailed flyers claiming forty-seven percent of Fort Worth ISD freshmen never graduate. She worries there won't be enough qualified workers for a healthy economy. Hirt didn't offer a solution but urged the community to talk about.
Hirt: We in Fort Worth are facing crisis levels. There is some dispute - the school district might argue forty percent, the Texas Education Agency says a little higher. We're dropping out students even as much in public schools in Fort Worth at one out of every two.
Fort Worth ISD School Board Chair Raymond Dickerson calls Hirt's statement flat wrong. In a letter, he wrote that Fort Worth's 2009 dropout rate - vetted by the Texas Education Agency - is more like seventeen, not forty-seven percent. Hirt stands by her numbers. Fort Worth Superintendent Melody Johnson says she wants to stay clear of campaign rhetoric. Johnson talks about programs between the district and the city that already work.
Melody Johnson, FWISD Superintendent: The City of Fort Worth has been wonderful in supporting after-school programs to the tune of over $2 million every year. Then the district puts in another million. What that does is help working parents, it helps the community, in terms of safety of children, in terms of containing crime.
That's not all. Superintendent Johnson says outgoing Mayor Mike Moncrief and the City Council discussed building a school in a city park, to save both money. That failed because it was too near a gas drilling site, but it could be tried again. The district also partners with the city for police officers, where they split expenses of on-campus officers. Council members also walk door-to-door, to find student drop-outs. Candidate Jim Lane, who served more than 10 years on the city council, likes some of those ideas, and says more should be shared.
Jim Lane: The council can be a champion and cheerleader for the school system. We need to sit down and say what can we do to assist? We can't run the schools. But we can sure assist.
Betsy Price agrees. Like many other candidates, she attended Fort Worth ISD schools, as did her children.
Price: The mayor has a major role in education. The city can't grow , can't attract good jobs at every level without a good education. We must have strong schools and the mayor must meet with the school board, meet with the superintendent, meet with our corporate partners, meet with our philanthropic partners
Beyond meeting and talking, Price offers no specifics. Candidate and attorney Dan Barrett also encourages public-private partnerships among the city, the school district, and local businesses. But he hasn't said how that would happen. The same goes for candidate Nicholas Zebrun, who urges citizen involvement in schools, as volunteers or mentors. So while all the candidates say education is a top priority, they score an "incomplete" when it comes to a plan that could prove it.
For more information on the Fort Worth candidates for mayor, go to out Voters Voice page at KERA.org