Fort Worth ISD’s racial equity committee has started meeting in secret. It’s a mistake

One of the lessons from the pandemic regarding education is that the public wants more information, not less, about how schools are run – especially as students continue to struggle academically.

So, it’s discouraging that the Fort Worth school district is closing meetings of its Racial Equity Committee to the public. The advisory panel, made up of a few school board members and volunteers from the community, met in a closed session March 3, the first time it has done so since the group’s inception in 2016.

The panel hasn’t posted minutes from its last three meetings, as far back as December. It even erased the meeting time, date, and location from the district website.

Barbara Griffith, the district’s top spokeswoman, said that the district is not required to open any proceedings unless a quorum of board members are present. Legally, that’s true. But with so much controversy around this particular committee, it’s a mistake.

Undoubtedly, the decision was motivated by the increasing vitriol in the debate over race in schools. Committee members, along with school trustees in their broader meetings, have come in for intense criticism and even personal abuse. That’s unacceptable, especially when aimed at volunteers trying to serve the community.

Norma Garcia-Lopez resigned in December as a committee co-chair, citing harassment from “white supremacists” after she shared contact information of concerned parents who had attended board meetings online. She also left a nasty voicemail for another parent.

We need to be able to have these difficult conversations without descending into such rage. But with the ongoing controversy, this committee and the district’s Equity and Excellence department should be more transparent, not less. Going behind closed doors will raise suspicions about the panel’s work.

There are 35 members of the 2021-22 version of the Racial Equity Committee. Fifteen are marked as “district staff” or “Equity and Excellence staff.” Four more are FWISD board members, and the rest are community volunteers. The district’s equity department has 20 employees overall.

With so much attention on the committee and the overall equity effort, the district needs to be accountable and transparent. It should do more to explain what it’s doing and why it’s necessary, not less.

If the equity department has a separate budget, it’s not easy to find online. Messages to members about reviewing a budget were not immediately returned. Assuming the Equity and Excellence department is rolled up in the overall administrative budget, the public should know what they’re spending and how.

Compensation numbers listed for positions within the Equity and Excellence department are startling, especially in light of the lack of academic progress for the district’s mostly minority population and the lack of transparency readily available to taxpayers.

For example, the midpoint salary for the department’s executive director is listed as $120,586. Sherry Breed, the chair of the Equity and Excellence department, makes more than $200,000 annually, max. Out of the 20 employees listed in the department, several earn six figures.

For perspective, teachers with a master’s degree at Fort Worth ISD earn $56,500 their first year. It’s fair to ask what taxpayers are getting for this money.

With Black and Hispanic kids’ scores badly lagging others in reading and math, it’s not surprising some parents and taxpayers have questions. Where is the progress toward actual educational equity? Typically in the private sector, if goals and measurements aren’t met, salary increases don’t follow.

Learning is not improving, year after year, and the Fort Worth community should know what is being spent and why it’s being spent, so decisions can be made about if it should continue to be spent.

Equity matters in Fort Worth ISD, to correct years-long disparities and help vulnerable children, a disproportionate share of the district’s population.

Amid the fights over what’s taught on race, history and society, it’s easy for emotion to overwhelm common sense. Volunteers working on important issues shouldn’t be met with personal vitriol.

But the answer is not to move discussions behind closed doors. If anything, it adds to suspicion and makes finding common ground harder.