On Friday, the “A-F” ratings for Texas public schools will be made public. We want you to see them first from us, though. They are attached in the Temple ISD accountability report, which also includes information about our campuses and how our schools were rated four months ago using the same data in the TAPR report (STAAR Tests).
When you look at these ratings, please look at them in context, and keep a few things in mind.
- These ratings use the same data which rated 86% of Temple ISD schools as “Met Standard” just four months ago.
- These ratings were released to legislators while all Texas school districts were closed for Winter Break. The legislators received these ratings before educators and the general public.
- The ratings are based on a bell curve, so there has to be schools that receive “F” and “D” grades, regardless of how well they’ve performed.
- These ratings are being released ahead of a legislative session in Austin where leading legislators have made it clear they plan to push “school choice,” or school privatization.
Dr. Battershell, along with many area and state superintendents and organizations such as the Texas Association of Schools Administrators (TASA) and Texas Classroom Teachers Associations (TCTA), representing over 90% of school districts from across Texas, have spoken out against the “A-F” ratings citing the high correlation between a school or district’s ratings and poverty levels.
As the legislature prepares to meet, we encourage you to share your opinion about this with our incoming Representative Hugh Shine (512-463-0630, [email protected]), and our incoming Senator Dawn Buckingham (512-463-0124, [email protected]), and thank you for your support of Temple students, teachers and schools.