State Sen. Larry Taylor sponsored House Bill 2804.[/caption]

In 2015, State Sen. Larry Taylor, R-Friendswood, sponsored House Bill 2804, which implemented a new accountability rating system for the Texas Education Agency. The bill required the TEA to present an informational report to the state legislature by Jan. 1.

Can you give and explain your stance on the A-F Rankings?

I support A-F rankings for both individual campuses and for school districts because I think they are transparent and easily understood by all parents. For several years now, our schools have been labeled as either "met standard" or "improvement required"—essentially a "pass-fail" rating system. Across-the-board performance by Texas students on tests like the ACT, SAT, and the Texas Success Initiative Assessment demonstrate low levels of postsecondary readiness. Yet less than 10 percent of our campuses are labeled "improvement required." Even previous labels like "Exemplary," "Recognized," "Academically Acceptable," and "Academically Unacceptable" don't convey a clear message to parents.

If a parent hears their child's school is "Academically Acceptable," he or she might not be aware that there are two higher-ranking categories. Our students and parents deserve a grading system that helps individual students, their campuses and their districts transparently measure academic success and clearly delineate where improvements are needed. The TEA has said that changes are going to be made between now and when the results are official.

Do you think it is valuable for the district to have these grades now, even though they are expected to be so different in 18 months? Is there value for the parents and community stakeholders?

I think that district administrators and parents having an opportunity to review preliminary grades provides the legislature and TEA the ability to make improvements to the system before it is fully implemented. I look forward to working with parents, teachers, our education commissioner and the professional education community to make sure that this system is a fair way to measure a school's strengths and properly assesses areas where they need improvement.

Do you think there will ever be an accountability system that can fairly grade districts across the state? How is A-F on or off course to that?

Absolutely. The A-F system is fair because the cut scores for each of the domains is the same for every district. There will be set goals toward which all schools can strive and, hopefully, ultimately achieve.

Overall, do you feel as though there is a strong understanding of each of the domains and what the criteria is for the grading system? Are the domains the same as those domains and indices calculated for the STAAR?

Even though the grades that have been released are preliminary, I think Commissioner Morath and his staff have done an exceptional job of carefully explaining the domains and the criteria for each. The STAAR and End of Course scores are used to calculate the first three domains: Domain 1 measures Student Achievement; Domain 2 measures Student Progress; and Domain 3 measures Closing Performance Gaps.

Many have commented on the advantages wealthier school districts have over those with less with A-F Rankings. Do you think this is the case and, if yes, is there a way to rectify this?

The goal of the A-F accountability ratings is to shine a light on struggling schools and districts, regardless of demographics. We're taking into consideration all concerns with the preliminary rankings and will consider what adjustments need to be made to improve the system.

At this point, is there any movement toward the repeal of A-F or adjustments on the way to improve A-F before the rankings become official in 2018?

I can't speak for other members of the Legislature, but from my perspective as the Chairman of the Senate Education Committee, there is no movement toward the repeal of A-F, and I’ve heard Lt. Governor Patrick firmly state that A-F is here to stay. I do not plan to entertain the idea of a repeal because I believe in the goal of the program and the transparency of the system. However, I have been listening to input from administrators, parents, and other stakeholders and I plan to file legislation to improve the system if necessary.