Texas school ratings will remain in limbo for a second year.
When the Texas Education Agency decided to adjust some of its metrics, notably those related to students’ performance on the state STAAR exam and career readiness, several public school districts objected to the stricter requirements. Dozens of school systems joined together in a lawsuit aiming at preventing the release of accountability reports for the 2022-2023 school year, which would include ratings under both the old and the new grading method. The number of school districts involved in the lawsuit has since grown.
“The A-F system is designed to properly reflect how well our schools are meeting those high expectations, and the adjustments we are making this year will ensure it continues to serve as a tool for parents and educators to help our students,” Texas Education Commissioner Mike Morath said in a September 2023 press release, defending the changes.
On Monday, a Travis County judge granted a temporary restraining order preventing the release of accountability reports for the 2023-2024 school year.
“The harsh reality of this situation is that when Texas schools don’t have accountability ratings, the group that suffers the most are students,” explained Mary Lynn Pruneda, an advisor with the nonprofit Texas 2036, in January, according to The Texas Tribune. “After the pandemic, only about half of our students are on grade level, and we’re graduating more than 120,000 students each year who aren’t ready for either college or a career.”
According to the most recent accountability ratings for Dallas ISD, one of the plaintiffs in the case, only 41% of Dallas students scored at grade level on their STAAR exams, and nearly 20% of its graduating Class of 2022 failed to earn a diploma in four years despite the hard work of its dedicated educators.
Texas Public Radio reports on the latest activity in the ongoing lawsuit involving dozens of school districts. Here’s the start of the story:
For the second year in a row, Texas school districts asked the courts to intervene over the state’s methods of grading their academic performances.
And, also for a second year in a row, a judge blocked Texas Education Commissioner Mike Morath from releasing those grades, known as A-F accountability ratings.
As of Monday, Aug. 12, the order barring the release of A-F ratings is temporary, preventing TEA from releasing the ratings this week as planned. TEA was slated to release official ratings to districts on Tuesday and to the public on Thursday.
Five Texas school districts filed suit in a Travis County District Court on Monday, asking for a hold on releasing the A-F ratings. Judge Karin Crump granted their request, issued a temporary restraining order barring the release until a hearing scheduled for Aug. 26.
Attorneys Nick Maddox and David Campbell with the law firm O’Hanlon, Demerath & Castillo represent the school districts that sued TEA over the accountability ratings both last year and this year.
Last year, the crux of the lawsuit hinged on changes made to the way TEA measured accountability after students the measurements were based on had already graduated. This year, Maddox said the focus of the lawsuit is on the standardized tests much of the accountability ratings are based on.