Is an exodus of teachers coming to Fort Worth ISD as state takes over?
When Texas Education Agency officials announced last month that they were taking over Fort Worth ISD, parents and other community members said they were concerned the district could see the same flood of teachers leaving the district as Houston ISD saw during a similar state takeover there.
Just a few weeks later, there are indications that a large-scale exodus of Fort Worth ISD employees may not be far off.
Steven Poole, executive director of the United Educators Association of Texas, said large numbers of district employees have contacted the organization to ask about moving to other school districts. Likewise, Poole said he’s been in touch with leaders in several North Texas districts that are considering holding special hiring fairs for current Fort Worth ISD employees.
Among the employees who are most concerned are teachers who receive stipends through the state’s Teacher Incentive Allotment program, Poole said. The program gives districts extra funding based on the number of high-performing teachers they have, with the requirement that they use 90% of that money to give stipends to teachers and other instructional staff.
Some districts, including Fort Worth ISD, give that extra funding directly to those high-performing teachers in the form of a stipend. Houston ISD is looking to adopt a model under which it would pool that money and use it to fund teacher raises based on performance, rather than giving it to the individual teachers who generate it. Houston ISD leaders say teachers in the district would earn considerably more than the state average under the plan.
Poole said some teachers in Fort Worth are concerned a similar change could be coming here. Such a move would mean big pay cuts for some Fort Worth ISD teachers, he said. For example, one special education teacher in the district receives a stipend of $29,000 per year through the incentive program. If Fort Worth ISD adopted a pay-for-performance model like the one Houston ISD is looking to adopt, that teacher would lose tens of thousands of dollars in pay each year.
State takeover leaves FWISD’s future unknown
District leaders have made no moves toward changing the way the district handles incentive allotment funding. But it’s unknown who will be in charge of the district a year from now. Texas Education Commissioner Mike Morath is conducting a search for the district’s next superintendent — a search that includes current Superintendent Karen Molinar as a candidate. During a news conference last month, Morath said he’d been impressed with steps Molinar has taken to put the district on a path toward progress, but that he has a responsibility to find the best possible candidate for the job.
Since then, TEA officials have been unwilling to discuss specific policies they’d like to see enacted in Fort Worth ISD under the state takeover. During community meetings this month, parents and teachers pressed Steve Lecholop, the agency’s deputy director of governance, about what changes they could expect in the coming months. Lecholop said any policy changes would come from the new board and superintendent, not from TEA.
Still, Poole said, the uncertainty around what comes next for Fort Worth ISD has teachers and other employees concerned. And some of the changes that some parents and teachers were worried about have already arrived. At the beginning of the current school year, Fort Worth ISD rolled out a slate of prepackaged lessons, including rigid scripts that teachers are expected to follow and slideshow presentations they’re expected to use in class. The change mirrors a similar program that Houston ISD adopted during the state takeover there.
Fort Worth ISD adopted its scripted lesson program after Morath notified the district that it could be in line for state intervention, but before he announced the takeover. But Poole said the change amounts to a loss of autonomy for teachers, and many are worried that the situation will only get worse under a state takeover. The fact that no one can give teachers any assurances about what the future looks like doesn’t help matters, he said.
“There’s really no one in the district, the board or the current superintendent, that can calm these waters, because they can’t make guarantees,” Poole said.
Houston ISD teacher turnover climbed after takeover
The Texas Education Agency took over Houston ISD in 2023 after five consecutive years of failure ratings at Phillis Wheatley High School. Since then, the district has seen a sharp rise in teacher resignations. Nearly a third of last year’s Houston ISD teachers didn’t return this year, the Houston Chronicle reported, pushing the district’s turnover rate to nearly twice the state average. Departing teachers told the newspaper that low morale and the stiff expectations included in the district’s turnaround plan caused them to look elsewhere for work.
In a virtual discussion last month organized by the Chronicle, Morath said high teacher turnover isn’t necessarily a bad sign for the district. Anytime an institution has a high turnover rate, it’s reasonable to reflect on what’s causing it, he said. But at the same time, he noted that the district has seen rapid growth on state tests. So it’s possible that less effective teachers are leaving the district and being replaced by more effective teachers, he said.
“I think it entirely depends on the nature of the staff that are leaving,” he said.
This story was originally published November 25, 2025 at 4:01 PM.
CORRECTION: This story has been corrected to reflect that Houston ISD is seeking approval to give funding directly to high-performing teachers as a stipend. An earlier version said the district had already implemented that plan.
