The Star-Telegram’s new education reporter seeks to raise awareness, point to solutions
A good school district is a lot of different things. It’s an equalizer, offering students from low-income families a bridge out of poverty. It’s an economic engine, training a competitive workforce and offering jobs to thousands of teachers, administrators and support staff. And it’s a leadership academy, preparing students to handle the problems of the future.
But much of the time, our school districts work better for some students than they do for others, and the COVID-19 pandemic is expected to widen gaps that already existed. Nationwide and here in Fort Worth, school shutdowns are expected to put student groups who were already struggling even further behind. Black and Hispanic students and low-income students of all races, all of whom were already faring worse than their peers in reading and math, are expected to lose the most ground.
Issues like these will be a priority in my coverage of Fort Worth ISD as the Star-Telegram’s new education reporter. My job is a bit different from a traditional K-12 beat reporter. You might spot me at a Fort Worth ISD school board meeting, but you most likely won’t see my byline on the story about the meeting (though other reporters will continue to provide that coverage). Instead, I’ll focus on bigger-picture issues such as where Fort Worth schools do well and where they fall short, how well they serve their highest-need students and how they respond to the COVID-19 pandemic.
In all cases, I’ll try to point to possible solutions. That may not always be possible — the pandemic has thrown school districts across the country into uncharted territory, where problems are everywhere and solutions aren’t always obvious. But any time I point out a challenge facing Fort Worth schools that another district has already overcome, look for those solutions in my coverage.
My position at the Star-Telegram is funded by a grant from the Sid W. Richardson Foundation. As traditional media outlets continue to face revenue challenges, a growing number of local newspapers across the country are partnering with local philanthropic groups to strengthen independent local news and community awareness. The Star-Telegram also partners with the nonprofit Report for America program to bring reporters into its newsroom, and one of the Star-Telegram’s sister papers, the Fresno Bee, runs an education reporting lab that’s funded philanthropically.
Fort Worth is one of the fastest-growing cities in the country, and a high-quality school system is critical if the city hopes to thrive. But Fort Worth ISD, which earned a C rating from the state after the 2018-2019 school year, has fallen short in some areas. Just 35% of students performed on grade level on STAAR accountability tests, compared with 50% statewide. By taking a harder look at these issues, the Star-Telegram hopes to help readers better understand their school system and engage with the challenges and opportunities it faces.
Before coming to Fort Worth, I covered education as the news editor at the Dallas Observer. Before that, I covered both K-12 and higher education at newspapers in Oklahoma. I understand the important role schools play in their communities, and I believe one of the first steps toward strengthening local school systems is helping readers understand the challenges they face.
I come from a teaching family. My parents are retired teachers. My sister, brother and sister-in-law are teachers. My aunt is a retired teacher who now serves on the school board in my hometown in southeast Missouri. More times than I can count, I’ve heard my parents say that any good teacher can teach anything that he or she can understand. And the same goes for journalists — good reporters can cover anything they can understand, and the better their understanding is, the better their coverage will be.
So what I need from you is this: Help me understand. If you’re a teacher who’s worrying about what the school year looks like in the fall, I want to hear from you. If you’re a parent who’s dreading another month of homeschooling or worrying about whether it’s safe to send your kids back to school in person, I want to hear from you. If you’re a high school student wondering how all this will affect your plans for the future, I want to hear from you. Or if you’re a community member with no formal connection to the school system but you have concerns you’d like to share, I want to hear from you, too.
We’ll be looking for ways to engage with readers who are interested in talking more about Fort Worth schools, through online means for now. When circumstances allow, we’ll hold in-person events like listening tours to hear your hopes and concerns for the school system.
In the meantime, if you haven’t already, I hope you’ll consider becoming a subscriber to the Star-Telegram.
Thanks for reading, and I hope to hear from you soon.
