TEA releases 2022-2023 school accountability ratings after legal battle with districts

Parents can now find out if their child's school or district made the grade as the Texas Education Agency released the 2022-2023 accountability ratings on Thursday morning.

Those A-F grades haven't been released in years due to the COVID-19 pandemic and, more recently, litigation.

A judge finally cleared the way for the grades to be unveiled to the public, which was released Thursday at 8:30 a.m.

The grades take into account factors such as STAAR testing and college readiness.

The results for the 2022-2023 academic year had previously been unavailable due to a court ruling. However, it was announced earlier in April that they could be released.

Education experts said the delay could've impacted parents and students in underperforming schools.

"If your child's in a D or F campus, you may have been given some opportunities two or three years ago that you weren't given, that you may be given now," University of Houston associate clinical professor Duncan Klussmann explained. "You may be saying to yourself, 'Look, I should've been given that opportunity two years ago.'"

The lawsuit that had put the release of the scores in limbo involved STAAR testing.

Changes in the way the test was graded led to some questioning whether it could truly provide a truly accurate measure of student performance.

HISD previously told Eyewitness News that they welcome the release of the scores.

TEA Commissioner Mike Morath explained why he believes releasing the A-F scores is essential.

"A-F is about the most valuable oversight tool that I have, that any school board member has. School boards exist to oversee all the employees, so it's a very quick way for school boards to discern whether the campuses are the same, or are they getting better, or are they getting worse?" Mike Morath, TEA Commissioner, said.

Due to the litigation, the TEA hasn't been able to release the grades publicly, but HISD has had access to the raw data while the lawsuit played out.

ABC13 Investigates reported that HISD improved in the 2023-2024 school year.

Experts believe that even if parents haven't seen the scores, they've already felt the impact.

"Every school district that I've talked to, they made actions after '23," Klussmann said. "Remember, '24 has not been released right now. They've just always made those actions and approached it as if they had been released."

The TEA plans to release 2024-2025 school year ratings on Aug. 15. However, Morath said that could be impacted by litigation.

As for when last year's results will be released, Morath said it depends on how the court cases unfold.

EDITOR'S NOTE: In an earlier published version of this report, ABC13 incorrectly reported that these scores are from the first year of the state's takeover of the Houston Independent School District. HISD's takeover by the state was in June 2023.

You can view the ratings by district or look it up by school.