Gina Hinojosa, a longtime public education advocate in the state legislature, hosted a town hall in Fort Worth on Nov. 1. (Photo by Katie Serrano)
State Rep. Gina Hinojosa, a Democrat running for governor, answered questions and called on community members to fight back against Fort Worth ISD’s state takeover at a town hall on Saturday.
State Rep. Gina Hinojosa never thought she’d run for office.
It wasn’t until her son’s school was threatened for closure that she got into politics. She won a seat on the Austin ISD school board in 2012, stopped the campus shutdown, and went on to run for the Texas Legislature, where the Democrat has represented Austin since 2017.
“It was the coolest, grassroots demonstration of real power that I have probably ever witnessed,” Hinojosa said during a town hall on Saturday in Fort Worth. “ I got mad. I got involved with a community of angry parents and teachers and community members who pushed back and created a movement. That is the power of the people.”
Now, she’s urging parents, students, and teachers who are concerned about the Texas Education Agency’s recent state takeover of Fort Worth ISD to do the same. Hinojosa, a longtime public education advocate in the state legislature, announced her campaign for governor on Oct. 15.
The TEA is replacing Fort Worth’s elected school board with a state-appointed board of managers, appointing a conservator to manage the district’s finances, and hiring a new superintendent.
TEA Commissioner Mike Morath was required to take action under state law after one of Fort Worth’s campuses—Leadership Academy at Forest Oak Sixth Grade Center—received a failing accountability rating for five consecutive school years, despite the district already closing the campus.
Hinojosa said the TEA’s accountability rating that determines state takeovers is broken, ridiculous, and holds schools to impossible standards.
“That school had more than 50% English language learners, that means more than 50% of the kids in that school didn’t speak English,” she said. “What most people don’t understand about that is when kids come here from another country and they don’t know a lick of English, they get one year, after which they have to pass the STAAR test in English. Most of the kids were in that situation. I believe in standards, but that’s not appropriate.”
“Because of this one school with bigger challenges than most schools, the whole district is taken over,” she added. “How’s that fair?”
This isn’t the first time the accountability rating system has been called into question. A coalition of state lawmakers previously called the methodology “deceptive, harmful, and a blatant attempt to discredit neighborhood public schools to justify school privatization schemes.”
District takeovers have also faced controversy for negatively impacting students.
“ This horrible takeover that’s happening in Forth Worth is going to be much, much worse than you could possibly imagine,” said Ruth Kravitz, a Houston educator and founder of the nonprofit Community Voices for Public Education.
Kravitz has seen the effects of a state takeover first-hand after the TEA took control of Houston ISD in 2023.
“For people who don’t know what has happened in Houston since the takeover, there’ve been 8,000 teachers who’ve been forced out of our schools,” Kravitz said. “There’s only 10,000 teachers in the schools, that’s a 40% turnover every year. These are veterans who know our kids and they are being replaced by people who last year were cutting hair—not that cutting hair is bad, but you need to know a little more than that when you want to teach.”
Kravitz also noted that enrollment declines are skyrocketing.
“Why? Because children aren’t allowed to read books, even in kindergarten, there isn’t storytelling allowed,” she said. “Teachers are fired for playing chess with students after final exams. Teachers are fired for having their lights on. Teachers are fired for taking three days off to care for a mother with cancer. Kids are not allowed to go to the bathroom, and third graders are peeing on themselves in schools.”
Kravitz also said that in Houston, students from kindergarten to high school are learning through PowerPoint lessons written by AI and take up to four tests every single day, she added.
At the Fort Worth town hall, attendees questioned if the school district’s new board of managers will hear their concerns. Kravitz said it’s difficult to say since the managers will be appointed and not elected like the current school board.
“ The board of managers, Morath, and Abbott are going to make all the decisions,” Kravitz said. “When this board of managers takes over, there is no election, there is no voter to hold them accountable at the ballot box.”
Morath, who was appointed by Republican Gov. Greg Abbott, appoints members to the board of managers. During this process, TEA officials are meant to look for candidates that are community leaders or individuals who have knowledge or expertise in education.
The majority of board members are also required to reside in the district—although Kravitz said that rule wasn’t followed in Houston.
“ Seven of the nine members on the Houston board of managers lived in affluent neighborhoods west of downtown and did not represent the city at all, and one of the other ones made up their address in an under-resourced neighborhood, but had a million dollar home,” Kravitz said.
Attendees at the Forth Worth event also asked about the school district retaining Superintendent Karen Molinar, who was named superintendent in February after working in the district since 1997. The TEA announced a public application process to hire a new superintendent, but Morath said he is committed to allowing Molinar to reapply.
Academic performance has improved since Molinar took over, with the number of campuses with F ratings decreasing from 31 to 11 during the course of the year. STAAR scores also improved across almost every grade level.
If Fort Worth residents want to keep Molinar and fight the takeover, Kravitz said they need to organize and keep making noise.
“I used to make a joke that teachers think parents are lazy, and parents think teachers are mean,” Kravitz said. “But when you get teachers and parents in the room together, across every community, then you realize that we all want the same thing, which is a joyful life for every child in every community. We need to own the positive message that public schools are the cornerstone of a thriving democracy.”
Hinojosa encouraged community members to hold their elected representatives accountable.
“ There’s a lot you can do to organize, this is just the beginning,” Hinojosa said. “It’s a confusing time, but you all coming together is the first step. Your power will grow, your knowledge will grow, and your confidence will grow. Hold each other accountable, hold your elected representatives accountable, and hold our governor accountable. You all have the power and the knowledge to make this right.”
The TEA will host two public meetings this month to review the takeover process and hear public feedback.
The first meeting is scheduled for 6:30 p.m. on Thursday, Nov. 6 at Polytechnic High School. The second meeting is at 6:30 p.m. on Thursday, Nov. 13 at the Fort Worth ISD Administration Building.
Author
Support Our Cause
Thank you for taking the time to read our work. Before you go, we hope you'll consider supporting our values-driven journalism, which has always strived to make clear what's really at stake for Texans and our future.
Since day one, our goal here at COURIER Texas has always been to empower people across the state with fact-based news and information. We believe that when people are armed with knowledge about what's happening in their local, state, and federal governments—including who is working on their behalf and who is actively trying to block efforts aimed at improving the daily lives of Texas families—they will be inspired to become civically engaged.
