At a public comment forum with the Texas State Board of Education (SBOE) on Tuesday, a local public education activist criticized Texas Education Agency (TEA) Commissioner Mike Morath after he addressed the SBOE and then left for an appointment.
“I think it’s frustrating that we are [here] to speak on the commissioner’s comments, but the commissioner is not even here,” said Lynn Davenport.
Morath had just given a report on the state of education in Texas and updated the SBOE on the pending state takeover of the Houston Independent School District (HISD), as previously reported in The Dallas Express.
The commissioner suggested that state intervention, when it comes to dysfunctional or failing campuses or districts, “is a moral commitment.”
After he concluded, SBOE members asked various questions about the information provided, with several members seeking clarification on the current intervention in Houston ISD.
HISD’s academic performance at one campus triggered the takeover after it logged five consecutive years of unacceptable TEA accountability ratings.
“Our goal is to have this exit as quickly as possible,” Morath explained while also walking the members through his role in the intervention.
Following the board members’ questions, Morath departed, and the board heard comments from the public.
During her time, Davenport went on to suggest a double standard could be at play regarding the HISD takeover, noting that the Dallas Independent School District (DISD) is clocking significantly worse student outcomes.
“Dallas ISD … is actually doing worse than Houston in all metrics, but Houston is the one being taken over,” Davenport claimed, noting that Morath had previously served on DISD’s Board of Trustees.
A comparison of the two districts’ accountability ratings indicates that HISD is outperforming DISD in several important student outcome categories.
Looking at on-time graduation rates, HISD saw 85.7% of its graduating Class of 2022 earn a diploma in four years. Only 81.1% of DISD’s Class of 2022 did.
Dropouts are also worse at DISD. The district logged a dropout rate of 4.5% for the 2021-2022 school year. HISD’s dropout rate was 4% that year.
There was also a six-percentage-point difference between the districts when it came to the reading portion of last year’s STAAR exams. Roughly 49% of HISD students scored at grade level, while only 43% of DISD’s did.
While only a handful of DISD campuses are currently logging consecutive years of unacceptable ratings, the district could end up facing a state takeover if it does not improve its student outcomes and actually provide its students with a quality education, as previously reported in The Dallas Express.