{"id":717656,"date":"2023-11-15T09:30:00","date_gmt":"2023-11-15T14:30:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.the74million.org\/?post_type=article&p=717656"},"modified":"2023-11-13T23:21:42","modified_gmt":"2023-11-14T04:21:42","slug":"el-paso-school-districts-sue-tea-halting-release-of-accountability-ratings","status":"publish","type":"article","link":"https:\/\/www.the74million.org\/article\/el-paso-school-districts-sue-tea-halting-release-of-accountability-ratings\/","title":{"rendered":"El Paso School Districts Sue TEA, Halting Release of Accountability Ratings"},"content":{"rendered":"

Three El Paso school districts achieved a small victory after a Travis County judge in late October temporarily blocked the Texas Education Agency from releasing the 2023 A-F accountability ratings.<\/p>\n

That came after dozens of Texas school districts, including the El Paso, Canutillo and San Elizario Independent School Districts, filed a lawsuit against Commissioner of Education Mike Morath, alleging the agency illegally changed the rating system after students had completed standardized testing for the 2022-23 school year.<\/p>\n

The rating system gives districts and schools letter grades \u2013 A through F \u2013 based on a combination of test results, graduation rates and how well students are prepared for a career or college after graduating. Poor performing schools and districts are usually required to go through additional monitoring and interventions and have on some occasions been taken over by the TEA.<\/p>\n

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Some El Paso school leaders said the TEA\u2019s plan to change the system was a politically motivated attempt to push lawmakers to approve Gov. Greg Abbott\u2019s \u201cschool choice\u201d or school voucher program that would allow parents to use taxpayer dollars to send their children to private and religious schools. School leaders say the plan will siphon funds based on enrollment numbers away from public schools.<\/p>\n

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Jeannie Meza-Chavez, superintendent of San Elizario Independent School District, attends a meeting of the school board on Wednesday, Nov. 8. (Corrie Boudreaux\/El Paso Matters)<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/figure>\n

\u201cThe accountability standards were changed to make the districts look like they were not performing,\u201d San Elizario ISD Superintendent Jeannie Meza-Chavez told El Paso Matters. \u201cThis would allow the governor to go to the public and say, \u2018This is why we need school choice because the schools are underperforming.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

CISD Superintendent Pedro Galaviz said he felt the change was \u201cdesigned to create doubt in public education in order to adopt legislation that is going to shed resources to private schools.\u201d<\/p>\n

Though a school choice bill failed to get through the Texas House for a third time on Tuesday, Abbott called another special session <\/a>that same day in an effort to get the legislation passed. The House Select Committee on Educational Opportunity and Enrichment  approved on Friday the latest iteration of school choice legislation, the first time this year that a voucher bill got through a House committee.<\/p>\n