A member of the FWSchools.org community at Lily B. Clayton Elementary recently asked us two great questions that we wanted to answer and share with everyone:

So, let’s get into it.

To answer this question, we will start with SB 1882. Senate Bill 1882¹ was passed by the Texas Legislature and became law in 2017. When the law was conceived, it was originally focused on creating a legal pathway for a school district to partner with a charter school to operate a campus. Before this law, charters and school districts both existed in a legal framework that assumed they were adversarial, because they were not legally allowed to partner and work together. In the years since Texas Partnerships have matured into robust tools for improving school choice and local governance.

In a Texas Partnership⁴, a school district authorizes an in-district school to partner in the operation of the school.

There are two kinds of partnership schools, one on each side of accountability spectrum:

There are two types of possible operating partners:

It is important to recognize that there are two different paths here:

In the context of a Turnaround Partnership, it is our opinion that the partnership does not necessarily increase local control. Instead, it is an act of exercising local control to maintain academic accountability. We see local examples of this at Forest Oak Middle, Como Elementary, Logan Elementary, and others operated by the Leadership Academy Network²³. These are used by school districts to AVOID a TEA takeover after years of unacceptable ratings.

For a current example of this in action see Waco ISD, which is proactively partnering with Third Future Schools, in an act of local control.

An Innovation Partnership, on the other hand, is a tool to increase and regain local control at the campus level.

In a situation where a school district has been taken over by the State, like in Fort Worth, parents may feel they can no longer drive innovation because they are dealing with state-appointed managers rather than elected trustees. In this scenario, an Innovation Partnership is one of the best tools parents have to drive results and superior outcomes in their specific schools.

For a great example, we can look at Houston ISD. When their world-class magnet high schools were threatened by widespread budget cuts from the state-appointed Board of Managers, those communities used Innovation Partnerships to maintain their autonomy and protect their resources.

At fwschools.org, we believe the Innovation Partnership model is the future for our community. Our focus is specifically on the powerhouse elementary schools in Southwest Fort Worth. These schools already have incredibly involved parent communities and high standards for excellence.

We believe the best "Operating Partner" for our elite elementary schools isn't a large out-of-town charter chain. Instead, we are advocating for the creation of new, local non-profits staffed and led by the parents, alumni, and leaders in these communities themselves.

Think of it as an amplified PTA. This structure returns the best elements of a local school board directly to the neighborhood level. The benefit is clear:

By moving toward Innovation Partnerships now, we aren’t protecting our schools from state intervention— the time for that has passed. Instead, we are building the momentum to lead them ourselves. We have the expertise to execute this move and the confidence that Fort Worth communities are the best people to decide the future of Fort Worth classrooms.