During the Senate Committee on Education, chaired by Senator Brandon Creighton, Texas Education Agency Commissioner Mike Morath and Senator Bettencourt discussed a lawsuit brought be a group of school districts to stop the use of the TEA's School Accountability system ratings in 2023 and 2024 which rate schools on an A-F scale.
A Travis County Judge, Daniella Deseta Lyttle of the 261st Civil District Court, issued a temporary injunction prohibiting the release of TEA’s A-F School Accountability system ratings. Judge Lyttle wrote that TEA Commissioner Mike Morath and the agency are enjoined from assigning ratings “until this Court issues a final judgment.” Lyttle also called the A-F rating system “unlawful, ultra vires conduct that violates Texas law and would cause probable, imminent, and irreparable injury or harm to Plaintiffs.”
“Quite frankly Judge Lyttle, the Boards of Trustees, and the School District Superintendents of Pecos-Barstow-Toyah, Crandall, Forney, Fort Stockton, and Kingsville should be ashamed of themselves for bringing this lawsuit. We have got to have a functioning A-F System, so why are 29 other school districts joining this frivolous lawsuit?” stated Bettencourt.
The original plaintiffs—Pecos-Barstow-Toyah ISD, Crandall ISD, Forney ISD, Fort Stockton ISD, and Kingsville ISD— were joined in the lawsuit by 29 other ISDs. This lawsuit appeal will go through the newly created 15th Court of Appeals which will handle all state-related lawsuit appeals.
“I clarified this issue in 2021 with my SB 1365 that continued the A-F ratings and clarified in law the actions that would be taken against a school district that received an ‘F’ or ‘D’ rating, allowing the establishment of a turnaround model for low-performing schools yet still allowing for district flexibility to address the issues that led to low performance,” stated Senator Bettencourt.
According to Bettencourt, parents, students, and Texas taxpayers need transparency in the public education system so they can see the accountability rankings for themselves.
“I’m tired of having a ‘Groundhog Day’ with these Travis County courts that block A-F year after year. As I always say, ‘What gets measured gets fixed’, and without being able to measure a school's performance we don’t know what to fix. This is absolutely a critical component of public education in the 21st century,” concluded Senator Bettencourt.
