Longtime trustee, conservative rival seek east Fort Worth schools seat. Our recommendation | Opinion
Significant change lies ahead for the Fort Worth school district: an administrative overhaul, big budget cuts and a need to consolidate schools, which will roil communities. The school board needs steady, experienced trustees to lead in the next few years and help Superintendent Angélica Ramsey implement her plans.
Trustee Tobi Jackson, currently in her second stint as board president, brings that stability. She’s earned a fourth full term representing District 2.
As an education veteran, Jackson, 62, is knowledgeable and engaged on a panoply of topics affecting schools. She does not sugarcoat FWISD’s challenges, many stemming from a huge enrollment decline over the last decade. But she is also a good salesperson for what the district does right and understands that it must build on those programs, such as career and technical education, while improving education for every child.
And she’s willing to learn from mistakes. In an interview with the Editorial Board, Jackson lamented that the district didn’t move fast enough to address COVID closures and learning loss. It’s important for districts to absorb those lessons.
Jackson’s tenure as board president has included contentious tasks such as redistricting, redrawing school attendance boundaries, and replacing a superintendent. The board has functioned better under her leadership. And like any strong chief, she understands the need to develop future leaders. Jackson, who works as head of an organization that bolsters after-school programs for Tarrant County schools, told us she would not seek to remain board president but wants to help fellow trustees, most of whom are in their first terms, ascend.
Her opponent, veteran conservative activist Pat Carlson, declined to attend our interview.
The trustee district includes the Eastern Hills and Polytechnic high school pyramids in east Fort Worth. School board terms are unpaid and last four years. Early voting begins April 24 and ends May 2. Election Day is May 6.
BEHIND THE STORY
MOREHey, who is behind these endorsements?
Members of the Editorial Board, which serves as the Fort Worth Star-Telegram’s institutional voice, decide candidates and positions to recommend to voters. The members of the board are: Cynthia M. Allen, columnist; Steve Coffman, editor and president; Bud Kennedy, columnist; Ryan J. Rusak, opinion editor; and Nicole Russell, opinion writer.
Members of our Community Advisory Board may also participate in candidate interviews and offer their views, but they do not vote on which candidate to recommend.
Read more by clicking the arrow in the upper right.
How does the process work?
The Editorial Board interviews candidates, asking about positions on issues, experience and qualifications, and how they would approach holding the office for which they are running. Board members do additional research on candidates’ backgrounds and the issues at hand. After that, members discuss the candidates and generally aim to arrive at a consensus, though not necessarily unanimity. All members contribute observations and ideas, so the resulting editorials represent the board’s view, not a particular writer.
How do partisanship and ideology factor in?
We’re not tied to one party or the other, and our positions on issues range across the ideological spectrum. We tend to prefer candidates who align with our previously stated positions, but qualifications, temperament and experience are important, too.
This story was originally published April 8, 2023 at 5:31 AM.