The Dallas ISD Board of Trustees voted 8-0 today to join dozens of other Texas districts in a lawsuit filed against the Texas Education Agency over the substantial changes made to the state’s accountability ratings system and the harm that the lack of advance notice of the new criteria and methods used by the system would cause students, team members, families, and the community.
“Dallas ISD believes in holding ourselves accountable, and we expect to meet and exceed high standards,” said Superintendent Stephanie S. Elizalde, Ed.D. “But we should know ahead of time the expectations and rules. Instead, the new state A-F refresh will be applied retroactively after the test has been taken and a new school year has already begun. This does not reflect our district’s recent improvements, which currently outpace the state in many areas. Put simply, our test scores have gone up, but under the new system, our ratings are projected to decrease. This does not make sense.”
“Many times, our commissioner, whom we all respect, has said his hands are tied by the law,” Elizalde said. “Our hands are equally tied, and we must take a position to allow the court system to help us all interpret the law.”
The announcement of 2023 Accountability Ratings and details on the system used to determine them has been delayed to later this fall by the TEA. More information will be shared as it becomes available.
