Takeover is working in Houston schools. It can save Fort Worth ISD kids | Opinion

State intervention of our public schools wasn’t Plan A for Fort Worth. Texans value local control, and so do we. Our community takes pride in governing itself, solving its own problems and shaping its own future.

Intervention of any kind can be alarming and unsettling. But the truth is this: Fort Worth ISD has been struggling academically for too long, and our children are paying the price.

This is not a one-year or one-campus issue. The FWISD campus that triggered state intervention had received an unacceptable rating every year except for one since 2013. Districtwide:

• Only 34% of FWISD students are meeting grade-level standards in reading and math. That’s 12-14 percentage points behind comparable large urban districts: 46% of Dallas ISD students met the mark, as did 50% of Houston ISD children.
• FWISD had 39 of 125 of its campuses rated D or F in 2025. For most of those (27), it was the third consecutive year of receiving a low grade. There are 5,790 Fort Worth kids in F-rated schools this year.
• 14% of FWISD eighth-graders are going to earn a two- or four-year degree, and studies show that just 13% of adults without a degree after high school earn a living wage from ages 25-34.

These are not abstract statistics. They represent thousands of children whose future opportunities are being limited before they reach adulthood. The ability to read, write and do math is consequential for our future workforce, as well as individuals’ ability to support a family and overall public health.

Now, that state intervention has arrived for FWISD, the central question is how to make it work for our city. Intervention, at its best, offers the chance to change the status quo and create meaningful improvement. As leaders of Fort Worth’s business community, we believe our city can seize this moment.

That is why we traveled together to Houston ISD, the only other major urban district in Texas currently operating under a similar state intervention. We did not go to Houston to confirm a preconceived belief. We went to learn.

What we saw was undeniable. Well-prepared teachers were instructing children with clarity, skill and vigor. Students were focused, challenged and supported.

We observed a district operating with strong leadership and a willingness to make bold changes to improve outcomes. At every level, there was an unwavering commitment to putting students first — above politics, comfort and the fear of change. The results are striking. The year before state intervention, HISD had 30,295 children attending 56 F-rated schools. This year HISD has zero F-rated schools; not a single HISD student attends an F-rated school for the first time since the rating system began.

Our visit was inspiring in different ways for members of our delegation. What united us was the recognition that meaningful progress is possible when leadership is emboldened to act with urgency and clarity.

Fort Worth kids deserve the same urgency, clarity and results. As a community, we must make the state’s intervention work for our children to ensure a positive generational change for their futures. This is not about winning arguments. It is about winning futures.

We did not arrive in Houston with a consensus opinion about state intervention, but we returned with unanimity in this belief: We are enthusiastic about the opportunity that is before us, and we are confident that bold action and teamwork can yield transformational results for our kids and our city.

Steve Montgomery is president and CEO of the Fort Worth Chamber. Michelle Green-Ford is president and CEO of the Fort Worth Metropolitan Black Chamber of Commerce. Ericka Garza is president and CEO of the Fort Worth Hispanic Chamber of Commerce.