A-F grades are concerning Texas schools no matter the outcome of a lawsuit, according to an education expert.

Some districts are taking legal action against the Texas Education Agency to stop it from providing grades under the newly modified responsibility system.

Get to know your community much better with our totally free newsletters. Sign up today so you don't miss a thing!

The TEA revised solutions and cutoffs for letter grades as part of an upgrade to the responsibility system as required by state law. A-F rankings were presented in 2017, and this year marks the very first upgrade.

What outcome are school districts hoping for as a result of the suit? That everything remains how it was, said Jo Beth Jimerson, a Texas Christian University education professor.

" I don't truly believe anything modifications, since they already understand that the requirements are eventually raising," she said. "So, the schools currently have targets and criteria they've been attempting to reach."

Fractures may display in the relationship in between schools and the TEA if districts do not win the claim, Jimerson stated.

" There has now been a seed of distrust sown," Jimerson said. "You're gon na inform me what those guidelines are; OK, we now understand what the greater standards are; are you gon na change those a year from now? Now we 'd have a circumstance with Lucy and Charlie Brown ... Lucy's pulling the ball out."

Lower rankings are extensively anticipated under the modified solutions.

In September, since of lower-than-expected post-pandemic results, TEA pressed back the release of rankings to late October/early November to provide authorities time to remodel formulas.

Fort Worth ISD joined the claim against the TEA on Sept. 19. As of Oct. 19, more than 100 school districts throughout the state have signed on to the suit.

The A-F ratings, which step school efficiency on a range of functional and academic metrics, are used by parents and community members to see how their districts and schools are carrying out in educating their children, said Arlington ISD trustee Aaron Reich.

Moms and dads might be puzzled why the rankings of their schools and districts are regressing, Arlington ISD trustee David Wilbanks stated. "That's not right," he said.

Richard Weber, a former Arlington ISD candidate who challenged Reich in 2021, said the district should not be thinking about undoing previous results.

" Stop the whining," Weber stated. "Over half the students failed the test, failed not being at grade level."

Regardless, school districts are preparing for stricter metrics and a tougher ranking system.

" In terms of progressing, they understand that those standards are getting raised," Jimerson stated..

Matthew Sgroi is a reporting fellow for the Fort Worth Report. Contact him at matthew.sgroi@fortworthreport.org. At the Fort Worth Report, news choices are made individually of our board members and monetary supporters. Find out more about our editorial independence policy here. Read more about our editorial self-reliance policy here.

Support protection of Fort Worth schools

Our not-for-profit news coverage depends upon our members' kindness to produce stories like this.

Donate Now.

Close window X

Republish this post

This work is accredited under a Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

Unless otherwise noted, noncommercial entities might republish the majority of Fort Worth Report stories totally free under a Creative Commons license. For business licensing, please email hello@fortworthreport.org.

For noncommercial digital publications:.

Look for the "Republish This Story" button underneath each story. Do not copy stories directly from the front-end of our web-site.
When you share our content, you are required to follow the standards and utilize the republication tool. The republication tool creates the appropriate html code. .
You can't edit our stories, except to reflect relative modifications in place, editorial and time style. .
You can't sell or syndicate our stories. .
Any web site our stories appear on should include a contact for your company. .
If you utilize our stories in any other medium-- for example, newsletters or other email projects-- you should make it clear that the stories are from the Fort Worth Report. In all emails, link straight to the story at fortworthreport.org and not to your site. .
If you share our stories on social media, please tag us in your posts using @FortWorthReport on Facebook and @FortWorthReport on Twitter. .
.
For noncommercial print publications:.

You need to credit Fort Worth Report. Please use "Author Name, Fort Worth Report" in the byline. If you're unable to include the byline, please include a line at the top of the story that checks out: "This story was initially published by Fort Worth Report" and include our site, fortworthreport.org. .
You can't edit our stories, other than to show relative changes in location, time and editorial style. .
Our stories may appear on pages with advertisements, however not advertisements specifically offered versus our stories. .
You can't sell or distribute our stories. .
You can only release select stories individually-- not as a collection. .
Any website our stories appear on must include a contact for your company. .
If you share our stories on social networks, please tag us in your posts using @FortWorthReport on Facebook and @FortWorthReport on Twitter. .
.
The Fort Worth Report retains the copyright for all of its released content. Contact Managing Editor Thomas Martinez.Texas schools are suing over A-F rankings if you have any other concerns. How might the lawsuit clean?
by Matthew Sgroi, Fort Worth Report.
< p>> What outcome are school districts hoping for as an outcome of the lawsuit? < p > "I don't really think anything changes, because they already understand that the requirements are eventually raising," she stated. < p>> Parents might be confused why the scores of their districts and schools are falling back, Arlington ISD trustee David Wilbanks stated.

Copy to Clipboard.
1.