The Texas Legislature is currently midway through its first (and, hopefully, only) special session with little to show for it so far. Educators have been watching closely, waiting to see whether the Legislature is serious about “eliminating STAAR” or if whether that’s just more hype designed to pass a bill that repackages essentially the same test, fails to address the broken accountability system, and further removes local agency. So far, since the Legislature gaveled in July 21,  the two authors of the major testing bills from the regular session—House Public Education Chairman Brad Buckley (R–Salado) and Sen. Paul Bettencourt (R–Houston)—have yet to file bills, and no hearings have been scheduled. With only a little over two weeks left in this session, it seems more doubtful by the day that a bill could even successfully make it through the process before time runs out, regardless of whether the bill filed should be passed based on its merits.  

Many ATPE members completed a survey at the beginning of this special session, making your position clear: You do not want testing reforms unless they also come with the following: 

• A pause on the punitive aspects of the accountability system (i.e., tying testing to jobs, school closures, and district takeovers) to allow educators, parents and lawmakers time to evaluate the efficacy of the new test and make any needed adjustments. 
• A prohibition on benchmark testing if the new state accountability test is part of a multi-administration, through-year system of assessment so we are truly lowering the number of testing-related instructional interruptions, not increasing them. 
• A commission of educators and parents to both assist in the design of any new assessment and to study and propose reforms to the accountability system prior to the start of the next regular session.  

A recent article in The Dallas Morning News on scoring results and the increased need for districts to resubmit tests for rescoring highlights the need for the reforms requested by our membership, but the article may also hint at the true motivation of the Texas Education Agency (TEA) and some lawmakers—silencing district concerns. In fall 2023, TEA announced it would move to the use of AI scoring for STAAR tests, following the redesign of the STAAR test. In an FAQ posted to the agency website, TEA heralded the move as a cost-cutting measure that would save more than $15 million a year and one necessary to meet budgetary and timeline goals.  

Following this transition, districts such as Dallas ISD have been faced with an impossible situation: They can accept the scores and the punitive accountability that goes with them, despite obvious flaws, or they can ask TEA to manually rescore the tests and front the coast at $50 per student. Even after the passage of House Bill (HB) 2, the 89th Legislature’s major school finance bill, many districts have been forced to adopt deficit budgets even after the passage of HB 2, and this decision has a major impact on not only their finances but also their accountability ratings, student promotion/graduation, and even teacher pay. Dallas ISD recently asked TEA to rescore over 5,400 STAAR written responses. About 35% came back with higher scores overall after human review (last year, around 43% came back with higher scores after human review). Among third grade tests, that number jumps to 85% in DISD and 70% statewide—so far. DISD officials pointed out that this pattern—where a high proportion of appeals leads to higher scores—raises serious doubts about the reliability of TEA’s automated grading system and underscores the need for transparency and safeguards in how essays are scored. 

One way districts have traditionally sought transparency and accountability from TEA is through lawsuits. Districts across the state have joined together in recent years to sue the agency for the AI scoring system, as well as the decision to change performance rating formulas after the school year had ended. These lawsuits successfully prevented the agency from releasing A-F district ratings until April of this year. When districts challenge unfair or opaque decisions—and utilize legal avenues—it holds TEA accountable and provides a check on the authority of a powerful unelected commissioner.  

However, the Legislature seems poised to take the ability to sue the agency away from school districts. Both SB 1962 by Bettencourt and the original version of HB 4 by Buckley contained provisions that would make it difficult for districts to sue TEA by forcing school districts to place all legal fees into escrow and only pay their attorneys if they win and exhaust all appeals—meaning these fees cannot be used during the case itself or while appeals are pending. This provision would have a chilling effect on districts and their ability to hold TEA accountable for unfair scoring and a lack of fairness and transparency. Although these bills did not pass during the regular session, it is rumored the Senate version of the testing bill to be proposed in this special session will continue to focus on measures like this one that seek to limit districts’ ability to respond when faced with unfair conditions and a lack of TEA transparency. If districts are barred from suing, teachers and students lose a crucial safeguard against errors, arbitrary rule changes, and systemic flaws. 

It is important as we move forward into the last couple of weeks of this special session that educators continue to stay engaged, pay attention, and hold lawmakers to account. If we must revise the testing and accountability system, we should take the time to ensure we get it right. The ATPE Lobby Team has developed and distributed a one-pager to lawmakers highlighting the three requests our members have expressed concerning these reforms. ATPE members can utilize Advocacy Central to make their voices heard on this issue. As always, stay tuned to Teach the Vote for updates from the ATPE as they are available.