State officials released the latest annual report on Texas’ public school systems, tracking what progress was made last school year and outlining goals for improvement for the coming years.
The Texas Education Agency (TEA) published its 2023 Annual Report last week, offering a comprehensive look at public education in the state in four priority areas.
“As we strive to fulfill our mission of preparing students for life beyond the classroom, our annual report serves as a tool to assess the progress of Texas and identify areas where continued resource investments are necessary to ensure all Texas students have access to a quality education that prepares them the future,” Texas Education Commissioner Mike Morath said in a news release that accompanied the report.
One of the largest takeaways from TEA’s new report is that despite the 42% increase in annual taxpayer spending on education between the 2010-2011 school year and the 2021-2022 school year, the overall academic performance of the roughly 5.5 million Texas students enrolled in public schools has been lackluster.
Despite the hard work of educators, Texas’ grade 4 reading scores ranked 33rd in the nation and 14th in math in 2022, while grade 8 reading scores ranked 41st and 25th in math, according to TEA’s report.
Teacher recruitment, support, and retention was one of the four priorities outlined in TEA’s report, followed by building a foundation for reading and math, developing high school to career and college pathways, and improving low-performing schools. These priorities and more will be featured and discussed in upcoming coverage by The Dallas Express.
Last year was without a doubt a busy one for public education in the Lone Star State.
From the debate over school choice to the creation of new campus security requirements, Texas lawmakers left an indelible mark on public school district operations in 2023, as extensively covered by The Dallas Express. Meanwhile, TEA rolled out several far-reaching changes, such as a STAAR exam redesign and a revised A-F accountability system, the latter of which has been stalled due to a recent lawsuit filed by dozens of school districts, including Dallas ISD.
According to the latest available TEA accountability report, a total of 57 Dallas ISD campuses earned a D, and 29 earned an F when it came to student achievement outcomes in the 2021-2022 school term. That same school year, just 41% of Dallas ISD students scored at grade level on the STAAR exam, and nearly 20% of its graduating seniors did not receive a diploma within four years.
