BRENHAM ISD OPPOSES NEW SCHOOL RATING SYSTEM
Brenham Independent School District Superintendent Walter Jackson has released a statement expressing the district’s opposition to the A-F school rating system that is set to take effect in August 2018.
In 2015, the Texas Legislature passed HB 2804, which changes the way schools are evaluated. Under the current Texas Education Agency accountability system, schools are rated either "met standard" or "improvement required." There are four indices that determine whether a school meets standard: student achievement, student progress, closing performance gaps and postsecondary readiness. The new system will replace the state's current system of rating schools as "met standard" or "improvement required" with A-F letter grades.
The statement from the school district says:
“The Brenham Independent School District vigorously opposes the A-F rating legislation and believes it will do more harm than good. We join the many school districts across the state who believe the A-F rating system could undermine the efforts of our hard working students and staff, devastate morale, and potentially negatively impact local real estate values. The A-F rating system places a higher value on high-stakes, standardized testing over student growth and achievement. This system also fails to account for the presence of socio-economic conditions that can impact student academic performance. Assigning a single letter grade to a district does not accurately demonstrate the quality of the education being provided. For this reason, as well as other factors, a vast majority of public school superintendents strongly oppose the A-F letter grades.”
In January, the Texas Education Agency will publicly release the letter rankings that Texas districts would have received, should the system have been in place during the 2015-2016 (last) school year. While the A-F system doesn't officially launch until August 2018, HB 2804 requires TEA to present a trial mockup in January. Although the public school system in Texas is undergoing a massive transformation, the state of teaching, learning, and forward progress in Brenham ISD is strong! Brenham ISD will continue to provide a premier education for every child just as we have done since 1875.”