Dozens of school systems in Texas, including the Dallas Independent School District, the second largest in the state, won’t have their accountability ratings from the last school year released until next summer, if at all.
More than 50 public school districts are plaintiffs in a lawsuit that has led to the delayed release of last year’s accountability scores, which are typically published each year by the Texas Education Agency before August 15.
The TEA recently introduced a new methodology that not only tracks student achievement scores but also sets targets for schools to assess how well educators are doing to help students advance.
For instance, if 60% of graduates were considered college, career, or military-ready upon graduation, the district would get an A under the previous system. Under the new system, that same district would have to meet a threshold of 88% to receive the same score.
In the case of Dallas ISD, Superintendent Stephanie Elizalde claimed that students have improved academically since pre-pandemic levels, but the new rating system could contradict that.
“If we were just comparing [student improvements] and giving ourselves growth points, then I would say that the overwhelming majority of schools in Dallas ISD would be an A,” Elizalde said, according to D Magazine. “That’s not what’s being scored for us. It’s how much gain did we have.”
“And that’s the conundrum and the paradox — how can we be improving with students on grade level, and celebrating because people worked really hard to get our kids where they are, and then they’re going to see their letter grades, and they’re gonna go, ‘Wait a minute, how can this be?'”
In response to the new rating system, several public school districts joined a lawsuit filed in August, claiming that the changes were unlawful and would “arbitrarily lower performance ratings for many school districts and campuses even though their performance improved,” as previously covered in The Dallas Express.
The legal battle currently awaits a ruling by the Travis County District Court on the state’s attempt to appeal the temporary injunction from Judge Catherine Mauzy in October that blocked these scores from being made public at the plaintiffs’ request.
“The Court finds that Plaintiffs and Intervenors have made a sufficient showing that Defendant’s implementation of the A-F Accountability System for the 2022-23 school year is unlawful, ultra vires conduct that violates Texas law and would cause irreparable harm to Plaintiffs, Intervenors, and all Texas school districts,” Mauzy’s order read.
The release of Dallas ISD and other districts’ accountability scores may continue to be delayed as a political battle over school vouchers continues to be waged by Gov. Greg Abbott, who hinted that a fifth special session might be on the horizon. At the last session, lawmakers considered phasing out the whole A-F system by 2026, yet the bill never passed the House.
TEA’s accountability rating system was first enacted in 2017 to provide a more rigorous and transparent assessment of district campuses that takes into account student readiness for higher education and the work field.
Public schools across the state have been struggling to overcome education deficits that emerged after the transition to remote learning during the lockdowns implemented during the COVID-19 pandemic.
In the 2021-2022 school year, 57 of Dallas ISD campuses received a D letter grade, while 29 earned an F, despite the hard work of the district’s dedicated teachers and principals, as previously reported by The Dallas Express. Only 41% of students scored at grade level or above on that year’s STAAR exam, according to the TEA report. The following year’s exam scores bumped up slightly across all subjects to 44%.
Polling by The Dallas Express found that nearly 50% of respondents felt that Dallas ISD was being mismanaged, citing this as the main reason for its lackluster academic performance.
