Texas Education Commissioner Mike Morath told the State Board of Education (SBOE) Wednesday that September 2023 A-F accountability ratings for public schools will not represent an “apples to apples” comparison with last year’s ratings. 

Morath has said and said again yesterday that the law requires the agency to regularly increase accountability cut scores based on student performance on the STAAR test. At least some members of the Legislature disagree. A bipartisan letter signed by more than 50 House members sent to Morath May 26 asserted: “Nowhere in statute does it state the Commissioner must raise cut scores this specific school year, much less raise them so precipitously at this time.” 

While providing background on the accountability system, the commissioner correctly stated that—after the federal requirement to raise cut scores annually was repealed—educators had requested that the performance bar remain stable over a period of years so that year-over-year changes in campus and district scores would be more meaningful. However, he then went on to erroneously state that districts had asked the agency to make “fairly large” periodic changes to cut scores, rather than incremental changes over a longer period. As a result of the commissioner’s interpretation, this fall’s accountability ratings for districts and campuses are expected to be significantly lower than last year’s. 

SBOE member Audrey Young (R–Apple Springs) asked the commissioner how the agency plans to inform parents that changes to cut scores, not actual school performance, are behind the changes to A-F ratings. Morath answered that the agency will recalculate last year’s A-F ratings using the new cut scores and present them along with the current year’s ratings under the new model.  

The result is expected to be a sizeable drop in both years’ ratings compared to ratings under the previous model. As opposed to retroactively and artificially deflating the performance of last year’s ratings, which were some of the highest on record, the agency could have calculated this year’s performance under the new and old system instead. Doing so would likely have shown that districts had continued to make gains under the old system. SBOE member Marisa Perez-Diaz (D–San Antonio) again noted these changes are unrelated to school performance and based solely on changes to the underlying mathematical computations.  

It’s noteworthy that Gov. Greg Abbott (R) is expected to call legislators into a special session in his continued attempt to pass voucher legislation around the same time that TEA, which is led by the governor’s appointee, is expected to artificially downgrade public school ratings. Vouchers would siphon taxpayer dollars away from public schools to subsidize tuition to private and parochial schools. No doubt the false appearance of a decline in performance will be used to manufacture another false narrative around the need for privatization. 

SBOE member Evelyn Brooks (R–Frisco) asked what will happen to schools that don’t perform well under new cut scores. The commissioner responded that improvement plans are required of failing schools, followed by a turnaround plan, and ultimately campus closure or district takeover. 

The board took preliminary votes Wednesday on five applicants to open new charter school chains. Most of the commissioner’s presentation Wednesday morning consisted of an overview of the charter approval process. Several members asked questions related to that process, specifically concerning contingency agreements with individual applicants. 

SBOE member Pam Little (R–Fairview) asked the commissioner how the agency follows up with charter applicants to ensure any contingencies are met. Morath answered that there is a minimum of one site visit after operations begin.  

Little followed up asking whether a charter campus rated as failing for three consecutive years would trigger closure of the campus or the entire charter chain. Agency attorney Von Byer answered that typically the chain would fold, but there is a loophole where the chain could continue to operate if the three failing years were to happen at the end of the chain’s five-year renewal cycle. 

The board has vetoed one of Wednesday’s applicants, Heritage Classical Academy, three times previously due to deficiencies in its application. SBOE member Melissa Ortega (D–El Paso) asked whether there is a plan to limit the number of times an applicant can seek approval to open a new charter school chain. The commissioner answered there is no limit and no conversations to implement one. 

SBOE member Pat Hardy (R–Fort Worth) asked to clarify the role of the SBOE and TEA to regulate already established charter schools, noting that she had received numerous complaints that a charter school in her district assured students they would have a spot and then revoked that commitment.  

Morath recommended that parents use the complaint process and indicated there is not much the agency can do. Hardy voiced frustration that the complaint process goes through the school itself and said parents have been harassed after making complaints and don’t want to jeopardize a potential enrollment slot.  

SBOE members Staci Childs (D–Houston) and Tom Maynard (R–Florence) asked for updates on the state takeover of Houston ISD. Morath said roughly 400 people applied to serve on the board of managers, of which he chose nine to operate the district in lieu of the elected school board.  

Following the commissioner’s presentation and prior to voting on the individual charter applicants, the board voted to amend its operating rules to expand the window in which charter applicants are allowed to lobby SBOE members. The board has the authority to approve or veto charter applicants; once approved, charters are allowed to expand without further input from voters or elected officials. 

Chair Keven Ellis (R–Lufkin) said the change was requested by the Texas Public Charter Schools Association. As ATPE has previously reported, charter schools spent record sums of money on SBOE races in the past election cycle. 

The board nonetheless voted preliminarily to veto three of the five charter applicants recommended for final consideration by the commissioner Wednesday night. Members voted to reject proposed NextGen Innovation Academy and Up Excellence Academy in Houston and The Village Speech and Debate Academy in Fort Worth. The board voted to approve proposed Celebrate Dyslexia Schools in San Antonio and Heritage Classical Academy in Houston. 

The board will cast final votes on the five proposed charter chains on Friday. Stay tuned to Teach the Vote for updates.