Texas School Districts Win Legal Battle to Block Revised Accountability Rating System
We have secured a significant legal victory as a Travis County judge temporarily blocked a new school accountability rating system. This momentous victory comes after Brazosport ISD along with other school districts filed a lawsuit against Texas Education Commissioner Mike Morath in August.
The core of the problem was a revision of the complex A-F accountability metrics. A campus could improve learning outcomes and receive a lower rating. It is not a valid representation of the great work our staff do each day to ensure our students are learning at high levels. The lawsuit argued that the newly introduced guidelines were released too late, in violation of state law. Notably, some of these guidelines applied to students who had already graduated in 2022.
The court ruled that this conduct violated Texas law and would cause irreparable harm to all Texas school districts.
The Texas Education Agency (TEA) decided to delay the release of the 2022-23 school year accountability ratings in September, just two weeks before they were originally planned to come out. This recent ruling, issued on Thursday, prevents Commissioner Morath and anyone connected to him from using the new rating system for the 2022-23 school year until further notice. The TEA plans to appeal this decision.
“We are elated with the outcome and are committed to standing up for our Brazosport ISD educators to ensure that there is a fair and transparent system for assessing student learning and state accountability ratings,” said Superintendent Danny Massey.
Read about the BISD Board voting to join the lawsuit against TEA here
https://www.brazosportisd.net/news/what_s_new/b_i_s_d_joins_lawsuit_against_t_e_a