Dallas ISD challenges Texas academic rating system

Dallas, Texas - The Dallas Independent School District, along with over 20 other educational districts in Texas, is suing Texas Education Commissioner Mike Morath, Dallas Metro News reported. The legal action concerns changes made to the state's A-F academic rating system. The districts argue that these changes were made without proper notice and could result in negative and unequal results.

The revised evaluation system requires higher performance benchmarks for both schools and districts to maintain their current academic ratings. Many believe these changes were introduced too suddenly, leading to concerns about potential drops in educational ratings.

Superintendent Stephanie Elizalde of Dallas Independent School District stressed the importance of clear regulations for districts to plan and achieve their best outcomes. She expressed concern over the timing of the A-F system's revision in May. She believes that the late changes do not acknowledge the district's recent improvements in performance.

"Our test scores have gone up, but under the new system, our ratings are projected to decrease. This does not make sense," Elizalde said, as reported by KERA.

During a recent board meeting, Dallas ISD trustee Dan Micciche commented on the situation. “It’s bad policy to do things retroactively without fair notice of what the rules of the game are,” he stated. “The A through F refresh, if applied to the 2022-23 year, would be changing the rules of the game after the game has been played.”

Dallas is the largest school district to join the lawsuit so far. The Fort Worth Independent School District might also become a part of this growing group of litigants.

The Texas Education Agency declined to comment on the ongoing lawsuit. Separately, the TEA announced a delay in releasing educational ratings originally set for September 28, now moved to an unspecified date in October.

Credit: Dallas Independent School District, Dallas Metro News, Kera News