Fort Worth ISD’s board met on Tuesday to discuss Angelica Ramsey’s leadership. NBC 5’s Larry Collins tells us more.
Teachers took to the podium Tuesday, saying they won't be quiet about their frustration in the classroom.
"The level of demoralization of the staff at large the teachers and principals that are being run off are not the ones who are ineffective," said one teacher. "The current policies are actually running off the teachers who are effective."
Many are frustrated with the district's focus on data-driven instruction. That's where you consistently test kids to see where they are and adjust your teaching from there. Superintendent Angelica Ramsey's administration implemented it, which can be more time-consuming for teachers.
"Consequences of this burnout is severe it leads to high turnover rates that disrupt student learning and costs our district too much," said one speaker.
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Most of those who showed up Tuesday night spoke against Ramsey, who has been at the helm of Fort Worth ISD for two years now. The district's data shows key advances in many areas and failures in others.
Several said the board made the superintendent a scapegoat for their lack of action.
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"If your plan is to pacify us parents by firing Ramsey postmortem, and we don't have a plan, that's not it for me. Y'all get the job done," said one parent.
"Now that the situation with our Fort Worth schools has been brought to light beyond this board room, you have decided to do something, specifically to put the blame entirely on the superintendent. That attack is entirely unfair," added another speaker.
One man even accused a board member of orchestrating this discussion for months.
"One board member was going around East Fort Worth trying to get support to replace the superintendent. The reason I know is some of those people called me right after they left and said don't worry, we're not going to do anything," said one community member.
Brand new Board President Roxanne Martinez said she wanted to take the board's and the public's temperature, which Tuesday night mostly indicated they're not happy.
"This feels like year one all over again, do to the massive failures, inane requirements and mismanaged directions coming from this administration," said a teacher.
Two members, Camille Rodriguez and Anne Darr, were not present for the last-minute meeting called over the weekend. Rodriguez said she would be flying home from a trip while the meeting was taking place and asked for it to be rescheduled, but her request was not responded to.
On Tuesday night, the board president told NBC 5 that no decisions were being made and they would have a chance to weigh in.
