CENTRAL TEXAS — More than 100 school districts have joined a lawsuit against the Texas Education Agency.
The lawsuit came as the TEA introduced a new accountability system.
Several of the districts involved are in Central Texas — Waco ISD and Temple ISD are two of them.
The lawsuit comes after a new set of standards were released in August. Now those standards would apply retroactively to districts score from last year.
111 schools are combining efforts with a lawsuit against the TEA, with one of those schools being in Temple ISD.
“The purpose of an accountability system is to educate the public, and the changes that have been applied this year with this new accountability system will do just the opposite of that,” said Christine Parks with Temple ISD.
Parks said the TEA violated state law by making changes to the A-F accountability system, by not giving districts prior notice to the start of the 2022-2023 school year.
“It harms the district and we feel that not having advanced notice," Parks said.
"To be able to prepare for a new set of standards and the new ratings, put us in a very difficult position."
The lawsuit names Texas Commissioner of Education Mike Morath as the defendant.
Superintendent of Waco ISD, Dr. Susan Kincannon, testified in Austin on Tuesday on behalf of the plaintiff. She returned again on Wednesday.
In a September board meeting, she said the changes can make it hard for schools to know what to aim for academically.
“They are making projections for our students and helping them set goals to improve," Dr. Kincannon said.
"That has been a challenge for us all year, is we didn’t have the information we needed to set those goals."
Parks says Temple ISD improved in 19 out of 23 indicators a part of TEA standards, but the new ratings would still drop the schools letter grade.
“Our hope is that the TEA will follow state law and allow districts time, so that we will know what the standards will be at before the year starts, and so we know how those will be calculated before the year, which aligns with state law," Parks said.
25 News will provide updates regarding the lawsuit as they become available.
