Judge Allows Release Of 2023 School Ratings

A state appeals court on Thursday lifted a block on the release of the Texas Education Agency’s school accountability ratings for 2023, Houston Public Media reported.

Texas adopted its accountability system in 2017, using factors like college readiness and standardized test scores to grade schools and districts on an A through F scale. Parents can use the ratings when choosing a school for their child, and the state can use them to evaluate how a school or district is performing.

That’s what the state did in 2023, taking control of the largest school district in the state, Houston Independent School District, after a high school there received several failing grades in a row. Texas removed the district’s trustees and appointed its own superintendent.

That same year, the TEA’s commissioner, Mike Morath, changed the criteria for the top accountability rating. Before, a school district was able to earn an A rating if 60% of students were considered career or college ready, but that year, he revised that threshold to 88% of students.

More than 120 school districts across Texas ended up suing the TEA, arguing that it insufficiently notified schools about the change. Shortly afterward, a Travis County judge blocked the release of the state’s school ratings system.

Thursday’s decision by the 15th Court of Appeals for Texas overturned that ruling, finding that Morath has the authority to issue those ratings regardless of whether prior deadlines were met.

State law doesn’t give a “precise deadline for adoption or explanation of the ratings standards,” and the TEA has “broad discretion regarding timing,” the court ruled, as reported by Houston Public Media.

The TEA was enthusiastic about the ruling in a statement, saying it “restores a transparent lens into 2023 district and campus performance.” Lawyers representing the school districts in the case did not respond to HPM’s requests for comment.

Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick also praised the ruling and called the new accountability system “one of the best tools to create competition and excellence.”

The state hasn’t released any accountability ratings since 2019 because of the COVID-19 pandemic and separate pending lawsuits.

In 2024, another set of school districts filed suit with the TEA for introducing a computer system to grade the state’s standardized tests, leading to another Travis County judge blocking the release of the 2024 accountability results. Those records have not yet been released.

This legislative session, the state’s appointed superintendent for the Houston ISD, Mike Miles testified in favor of Senate Bill 1962, which would prevent school districts from blocking the release of annual school ratings through legal challenges. As of Thursday, that bill had been recommended to the Senate Education Committee.