2026 FWEP Polling Report

FORT WORTH PERCEPTIONS ON

The State of Education

2026

ABOUT FWEP At Fort Worth Education Partnership (FWEP), we believe that every Fort Worth student deserves access to a high-quality public education. In pursuit of that vision, we support, invest in, and coordinate opportunities that increase access to high-quality educational experiences.

FOREWORD A year ago, we shared a report on what Fort Worth residents and families wanted from public education.

Our community, across race, income, and political lines, was surprisingly unified in our hopes: schools that prepare our kids for their future, transparent, honest, and clear information about how students are doing, and more public school options for families to choose from. This year’s findings are remarkably consistent - with a few surprises.

Education has moved up. For parents in both Fort Worth and Tarrant County, education is now the second most important issue facing their family on a daily basis, behind only the cost of living. That's a shift from last year, when it ranked fourth, and it tells us families are paying close attention and care deeply about what's happening in their child's classroom.

Confidence is rising. Fort Worth residents’ satisfaction with public education has increased by 8 points, and they are more hopeful about Fort Worth's direction than they were a year ago (+7).

Persistent needs exist. Families need better information about how their schools and their kids are doing. They want accountability, quality teachers, strong academics, and college preparation. Across every demographic, Fort Worthians want more high-quality public school options.

Polling, by definition, is just a snapshot, but it is a snapshot that tells us what our neighbors, families, and our community are asking of us at this moment in time.

We are paying attention.

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EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

What Fort Worth is telling us in 2026

01 Education is a top priority for parents Previously ranked fourth, education has jumped to the #2 most important issue for parents in both Fort Worth (16%) and Tarrant County (13%) — ahead of jobs and the economy, affordable housing, and health care. Only the cost of living ranks higher.

02 Accountability, results, and quality teachers come first When asked what makes a school high quality, good teachers (48%) and a safe environment (31%) still lead, but strong academics (27%, +3) and college preparation (18%, +3) are both up from last year.

03 The public, especially families, need better, clearer information 89% of Fort Worth residents (+2) say it's important for Texas to have a system that measures children's and school performance, and a higher percentage of Fort Worthians believe “Meeting Grade Level” (62%, +6) reflects that a student has the foundation to succeed in the next grade level. Yet the gap between the percentage of parents who believe their child is on grade level and the percentage who are is wide: 45 percentage points in Math, and 38 points in Reading.

04 Families want more public school options 91% of Fort Worth residents (+2) and 94% of Fort Worth parents (+5) say it's important for families to have multiple public school options - including traditional public schools, public charter schools, and other types of schools, like Schools of Choice. 90% agree Tarrant County needs more high-quality public schools, up 8 points in strong agreement since 2025.

METHODOLOGY

How we listened.

To assess perceptions of school quality in Tarrant County, Texas, Fort Worth Education Partnership partnered with national public affairs and opinion research firm, SKDK, to conduct a representative survey of 500 adults from April 7th to April 21st, 2026.

The survey was administered online in English and Spanish. It included an oversample of at least 300 Fort Worth residents and a substantial subsample of parents with children, spanning different school types and grade levels to ensure robust representation of key demographic and geographic subgroups. The demographic summary on page 5 includes a breakdown of the types of schools attended and the current grade level of those children.

Survey results were weighted for age, gender, race/ethnicity, education, and income to U.S. Census data to align with proportions within the Tarrant County and Fort Worth populations.

The sampling margin of error is +/- 4.23%. Margin of error is larger among demographic breakouts.

500

± 4.23%

Apr 2026

Tarrant County adults surveyed

Sampling Margin of Error

Fielded April 7 - 21, 2026

This survey builds on and benchmarks against the 2025 polling, conducted by the same firm, allowing for a clear assessment of how attitudes and perceptions have shifted over the past year. Where year-over-year change is shown, the comparison is to Spring 2025 polling on equivalent questions. Some subsets were not examined in 2025, and for this reason will say, ‘N/A’, for ‘Not Applicable’, when comparing against a 2025 benchmark.

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SURVEY DEMOGRAPHICS

Who We Heard From CITY OF FORT WORTH SAMPLE (%)

PARENT SAMPLE — SCHOOL TYPE & GRADE LEVEL (%)

Parents could report children at multiple grade levels, so totals exceed 100%.

ON THE DIRECTION OF FORT WORTH AND TEXAS Overall, more Fort Worth residents believe Fort Worth is heading in the right direction (60%) than Texas (50%). Compared with 2025 polling, Fort Worth residents are more confident that the city is heading in the right direction, up 7%, while confidence that Texas is headed in the right direction declined 4%. Results were consistent across all demographic subgroups on the Direction of Fort Worth, with Hispanic residents the most likely to agree that the City was on the right track. More significant gaps between subgroups existed in agreement on the Direction of Texas, with NonParents and Black Residents the most likely to believe that Texas is headed in the Wrong Direction.

FOR PARENTS, EDUCATION RANKED SECOND AS THE MOST IMPORTANT ISSUE FACING FAMILIES For all demographic subgroups, the most important issue facing them and their family on a daily basis, far and above all others, is the cost of living, with 46% of both Tarrant County and Fort Worth residents.

Education stood out as the #2 most important issue for Tarrant County Parents (13%), Fort Worth parents (16%), and residents that live within the boundary of Fort Worth ISD (23%).

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SATISFACTION AND PERCEPTIONS OF QUALITY Resident satisfaction with K-12 education in Tarrant County rose 8 points to 70%, a significant increase compared to 2025, with similarly large gains across all demographic subgroups. Political Independents (50%) and Fort Worth Residents who make under $50,000 a year (57%) are the least likely to be Satisfied.

Overall, 65% of Fort Worth residents described the quality of public education as Excellent or Good, up 7 points from Spring 2025. Fort Worth Parents (74%) were much more likely to rate educational quality as Excellent or Good. Residents making under $50,000 (59%), Fort Worth Democrats (59%), and Independents (43%) were much more evenly split.

ASSESSING SCHOOL QUALITY When residents are looking to understand the quality of a school in their area, they overwhelmingly rely on information from the school district or school’s website (49%) or friends or family (49%), followed by state or school rating websites (37%).

TEACHERS, SAFETY, AND STRONG ACADEMICS When assessing quality, Fort Worth residents are primarily looking for good teachers (48%), followed by a safe school environment (31%). Ranked third were strong academics or test scores (27%), followed by preparing students for college (18%) and workforce readiness (16%). Of less importance were small class sizes, reputation, and extracurricular activities and sports.

08 Respondents were asked to select two, totals exceed 100%

HIGH STANDARDS AND THE PARENT PERCEPTION GAP There is overwhelming, cross-community consensus: Texas should hold its public schools and students to a measurable bar (89%), up 2 points from 2025.

WHAT FORT WORTH THINKS COUNTS AS “ON GRADE LEVEL”

91%

% of Fort Worth residents who believe each STAAR performance level reflects that a student is ready for the next grade level

33%

Masters grade level

62%

Meets grade level

27%

Approaches grade level Did not meet grade level Not sure

Say it is important that students achieve "Meets Grade Level" before moving on to the next grade, a number that rose to 93% among Fort Worth parents.

3% 7%

Respondents could select more than one level, so totals exceed 100%

Q. How important is it to you that students achieve the level of “meets grade level” before they move onto the next grade level?

PERCENTAGE OF PARENTS WHO SAY THEIR CHILD IS AT OR ABOVE GRADE LEVEL Last year, the gap between what parents thought about their child's grade-level performance and the reality was narrowing. This year, some, but not all, of that progress has reversed.

SUBJECT

SPRING 2024

SPRING 2025

SPRING 2026

REALITY (2025)

Reading

96%

84%

90%

52% meets

Math

92%

84%

88%

43% meets

Parents' reported assessment of where their child is performing vs. the share of Tarrant County students actually meeting grade-level expectations on the most recent STAAR results in Spring 2025.

Parents can't advocate for what they don't know they need. The expansion of clear, accessible, family-facing performance information is one of our highest priorities. When families have access to information on how their child is doing, they can step in to help.

ON PUBLIC SCHOOL OPTIONS Across the board, Fort Worth residents want families to have multiple public school options available (91%), including charter schools and Schools of Choice, with broad agreement across income, race, and political lines. Tarrant County White (84%) residents and Fort Worth independents (82%) were slightly lower than other subgroups, while still highly favorable.

90%

87%

84%

Agree we need more high-quality public schools in Fort Worth and Tarrant County +8

Agree parents should be empowered to choose the best public school for their child

Agree all public schools should be held accountable for student outcomes

Q. Please indicate whether you agree or disagree with the following statements about education and public schools in Tarrant County.

Access is still a barrier for some.

A majority of Fort Worth residents (58%) say it's easy for families in their area to find a high-quality public school that fits their child's needs. But the share saying it's difficult is still just over a third of residents (34%).

34%

58% Of Fort Worth residents say it's easy to find a quality public school, up 3 points from 2025.

+3

Of Fort Worth residents say it's difficult to find a quality public school, up 1 point from 2025. +1

Q. In your view, how easy or difficult is it for families in your area to find a high-quality public school that fits their child’s needs?

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REPORT TOOLKIT

Take this further Find QR codes below to access this report digitally, share graphics from the report, and stay connected with future report releases from Fort Worth Education Partnership.

City of Fort Worth Academic Performance Reports The FWEP City of Fort Worth Academic Performance Report goes live in August 2026.

Scan to see how your school performed in the most recent school year.

Tarrant County School Performance Tool The Tarrant County School Performance Tool goes live August 2026. Scan to see how your school performed in each testing category.

Learn if Your Child is on Grade Level If you have a child in 3rd–12th grade, log in to see how they performed on state exams.

Scan to learn how to access the Family Portal at texasassessment.gov.

COMING JUNE 2026

Tarrant County Education Dashboard - COMING JUNE 2026 The Tarrant County Education Dashboard goes live June 2026. Visit our website or sign up for updates using the link below to explore county-wide education data.

STAY CONNECTED Sign up at fortworthep.org to receive future report releases, school performance tools, and updates from Fort Worth Education Partnership.

Every Fort Worth area student deserves access to a high-quality education.