The big picture
The district’s board of trustees passed a resolution directing the superintendent to join litigation against the TEA over its failure to adequately notify school districts on the changes made to the way accountability ratings are calculated.
The resolution states the TEA is in violation of state law by failing to provide “accountability performance measures, methods and procedures” that the district will be graded on for the 2023-24 school year.
“We take accountability seriously,” PISD Superintendent Theresa Williams said. “We want to see growth for every single student, ... but tearing down the system and relabeling it is not the way to do that.”
The board passed the resolution unanimously during the Sept. 19 meeting.
The background
TEA was set to release A-F accountability ratings on Sept. 28, before it announced that the scores are temporarily delayed until next month to allow for “further re-examination of the baseline data,” according to a Sept. 12 news release.
The scores will be based on an adjusted criteria that district officials believe would show “the misleading appearance of declining school performance,” according to the resolution.
The resolution goes on to state that lower A-F accountability ratings would impact enrollment and property values within the district.
Along with PISD, North Texas districts that have joined the lawsuit include but are not limited to:Quote of note
“I don't love the idea of signing on to a lawsuit but again, 25% of Texas public school kids will be covered under this lawsuit, so we're not alone,” PISD Trustee Tarrah Lantz said. “This is a lot of us banding together, demanding that our kids be celebrated for the improvements that they're making.”
