Texas judge temporarily blocks TEA's revised school rating system
A Travis County judge has temporarily blocked the Texas Education Agency’s revised school rating system.
The decision comes after a group of more than 100 districts filed a lawsuit claiming the guidelines were released too late.
The TEA said it will appeal.
Three North Texas superintendents said they find this ruling encouraging.
Fort Worth ISD's superintendent said, in a statement, that teachers and students need to know the rules before the game begins.
"We are pleased the judge saw the same thing we did so we could pause," Richardson ISD Superintendent Tabitha Branum said.
Richardson ISD is one of 100 North Texas school districts that joined a lawsuit against Texas Education Commissioner Mike Morath.
"We want to be held accountable for student growth, we just want to know what that system will look like so we can properly plan," Branum added.
In Texas, each school is assigned a letter grade of A-F based on the state's performance rating system.
"Our teachers are working harder than ever. All of our scores showed growth. Students in RISD are growing, however, our grades were not going to represent that growth," Branum said.
That's a concern for Dallas ISD Superintendent Dr. Stephanie Elizalde as well, who argues that the rules changed after the school year began.
"In basketball, you know, there's a 3-point shot. So teams strategize based on their talent on how to win that game, right?" Elizalde said. "But what if, after a game was played, the officials went back and said, we really decided that those 3-point shots should only have been worth two all this time."
Dallas ISD joins lawsuit against TEA's evaluation changes; Fort Worth could join next week
The largest school district in North Texas, Dallas ISD, announced it is joining a lawsuit against the Texas Education Agency for changes to the way schools are evaluated.
Thursday's ruling in Travis County will temporarily prevent the Texas Education Agency from releasing its accountability ratings until the court issues a final judgment.
The TEA said the ruling disregards state law and will hurt the accountability system that has improved outcomes for students, especially those most vulnerable.
The agency added: "Though about 10% of our school system leaders disagreed with the methods used in A-F enough to file this lawsuit, the complete absence of public performance information means that 100% of our school systems cannot take actions based on these ratings..."
"We want accountability. We want it to be fair," Elizalde said.
The TEA said it will appeal the decision immediately.
The case is set to go to trial on February 12.