Texas just handed one of its most troubled school districts a new leader — and the price tag is already raising eyebrows.
Fort Worth ISD, now under state control following a Texas Education Agency takeover, has a new superintendent: Dr. Peter B. Licata, whose contract took effect March 24 and sets his daily pay at $1,384.62 — a figure derived from former Superintendent Karen Molinar’s $360,000 annual base salary. On top of that, Licata is entitled to a one-time $25,000 payment to cover moving expenses and temporary housing, according to contract documents reviewed by CBS News Texas.
The appointment matters for a simple reason: Fort Worth ISD serves nearly 68,000 students, and the district has been struggling. TEA Commissioner Mike Morath tapped Licata directly to lead the district after the state assumed control — a move that bypassed the traditional elected school board process entirely, as the Texas Tribune noted in its coverage of the takeover.
A Resume That Commands Attention
So who exactly is Peter Licata? The short answer: someone who’s done this before, at serious scale. Licata brings over 30 years of experience in public education, most recently serving as superintendent of Broward County Public Schools in Florida — the sixth-largest school district in the United States, with more than 250,000 students. His tenure there wasn’t just resume padding, either. Under his leadership, Broward County earned its first state ‘A’ rating in over 14 years and managed to eliminate all schools rated ‘D’ or ‘F,’ according to his biography on the Fort Worth ISD website.
That’s a record that gives even skeptics pause. Fort Worth has its own deeply entrenched academic challenges, and the TEA didn’t pull someone from the minor leagues. Still, leading a 250,000-student Florida district and inheriting a state-controlled Texas district mid-year are very different assignments.
An Interim Deal — For Now
Here’s the catch, though. Despite the contract details already circulating, Licata technically began his tenure under a 21-day interim contract, pending formal approval from the district’s newly installed Board of Managers — the state-appointed body that replaced Fort Worth’s elected school board. The TEA announced the appointment alongside the Board of Managers selection, framing Licata’s experience improving student outcomes as central to his selection.
His first public appearances in the role were documented as he stepped into the interim arrangement — a somewhat unusual way to begin what is, by any measure, a high-profile and politically charged assignment. The full terms of a permanent contract haven’t been disclosed. As the Fort Worth Star-Telegram reported, state and district officials had yet to release Licata’s complete compensation package while the interim arrangement remained in effect.
What’s Actually at Stake
It’s worth stepping back for a moment. A state takeover of a nearly 70,000-student district isn’t a routine administrative shuffle — it’s a signal that things went badly wrong, and that elected local leadership was deemed incapable of fixing them. Morath’s decision to install both a Board of Managers and a superintendent of Licata’s caliber suggests the TEA is serious about turning the district around, not just managing appearances.
Whether Licata can replicate his Florida success in a Texas district with its own political and demographic complexities remains an open question. But if his Broward County track record means anything, Fort Worth ISD’s 68,000 students at least have someone at the helm who’s navigated rough institutional waters before — and come out with an ‘A’ to show for it.
The real test won’t be the contract. It’ll be the classrooms.
