No one seems to do more to advance the concept of school vouchers — currently under a legislative microscope in Austin — than public school leaders, particularly school boards.
These boards seem to be often composed of firebrands from one political philosophy or another who use their platform to preach and impose ideology.
Elected school board members seem to do less and less to promote learning and critical thinking, instead wading into divisive political issues that further distract from their core mission.
To wit: the dynamos of the Keller school board, who, by all appearances, are trying to install “Keller Only” water fountains. The members of the board were busted earlier this year secretively scheming to try to split the district along U.S. 377 during an executive session in December.
Keller is the fourth-largest school district in Tarrant County, with more than 34,000 students in Keller, Fort Worth, Colleyville, Haltom City, Hurst, North Richland Hills, Southlake, Watauga, and Westlake.
Twenty-seven of its 42 campuses are in Fort Worth.
That proposed split — which would create two school districts, Keller and Alliance — literally happens to be along railroad tracks. Keller’s leaders literally do not want students from the proverbial other side of the tracks — in Fort Worth.
There are other opinions, too, namely that Keller residents, who are putting fewer and fewer students into the Keller ISD feeders, “simply don’t want to foot the bill” for Fort Worth students in Keller schools. Another says, “they just want to be another Southlake.”
It’s difficult not to draw these kinds of conclusions because of the air of secrecy the board has taken on.
“That’s certainly what it appears like, right?” says Fort Worth City Councilman Charlie Lauersdorf, whose District 4 includes the Keller schools. “I mean, call it what you want, but you can put a lipstick on a pig, but guess what, it's still a pig. Perception is reality. That may not be what they're trying to convey, but that's certainly the perception. And that's certainly going to be people's reality because you don't see them cutting out everyone else.
“If I have a team of football players and I'm cutting out the smallest, tiniest, disadvantaged ones, and I say, ‘Well, it's just so we have better control of our team.’ Or is it you're just trying to have what you consider to be a winning team and you jettison the other the other guys, knowing that they're going to have an uphill battle?”
Lauersdorf is not alone among city of Fort Worth officials speaking in support of Fort Worth students. City Councilman Alan Blaylock, who also has constituents in the Keller schools, and Mayor Mattie Parker have weighed in.
More recently, three Fort Worth City Council members — Blaylock, Lauersdorf, and Macy Hill — initiated a proposal to rezone 23 properties owned by the school district as only for community facilities.
“They want to sell some properties,” someone said recently of the school board.
Blaylock called the proposal “a nothing burger.”
“We're just bringing the zoning into compliance with the comprehensive plan,” he says. “It’s something we're going to do across the rest of the city, ensuring there's public process around anything that affects neighborhoods related to those properties.”
Yet, the Keller ISD has budget problems. The district has shared an audit showing a $35 million shortfall in its general fund, with a more than $9 million deficit projected for the 2025-26 school year.
Moreover, proponents on the board of a split argue that the decision is essential to overcoming those financial shortfalls caused by shrinking enrollment and the legislature's inability to adjust per-student funding to match post-pandemic inflation.
The split into two districts would also shift costs for underfunded programs into the new district, according to the Star-Telegram, which cited an email from a school finance consultant.
The Heritage Homeowners Association has joined a lawsuit against the Keller school district, alleging that board trustees violated the Texas Open Meetings Act while orchestrating the plan to split the district.
If that suit advances, board members will be forced out of their caves. They’ll be under oath answering questions.
Two board members have spoken out about the split, but ultimately, the entire school board should be cast aside at the first electoral opportunity. Board president Charles Randklev should be the first to go. Lauersdorf, a U.S. Marine whose opinions often run without brakes, thankfully, believes the board president should resign.
Students everywhere deserve an able, innovative school board up to the job of clearing obstacles so kids have the best opportunity to learn and achieve.
This one clearly isn’t it.