Houston ISD could get school rating reprieve
Governor wants a waiver for four districts in Hurricane Harvey federal disaster area
Gov. Greg Abbott has asked the state’s education commissioner to waive some rules used in evaluating schools in areas hardest hit by Hurricane Harvey, a move that could bring a one-year reprieve to Houston ISD and other school districts facing possible state takeover over long-struggling schools.
Districts most severely affected by Harvey have been urging the state to postpone grading and potentially penalizing them in the wake of a storm that triggered catastrophic flooding, damaged schools, delayed classes and displaced students.
State Education Commissioner Mike Morath recently told lawmakers that the state faced the loss of federal funds if it didn’t administer standardized tests, but Abbott urged Morath to seek a waiver from the U.S. Department of Education that would give Texas the option of not rating certain campuses without the loss of federal dollars.
Abbott’s proposal could give Houston ISD and three other districts within the federal disaster area another year to improve student scores on standardized tests at chronically under-performing schools.
Abbott stressed in a letter Monday that he believes in academic accountability and wants to ensure that students graduate college- or career-ready.
“However,” he wrote Morath, “in times of crisis, it is important to re-examine some regulations related to accountability placed on those living in devastated areas. With that in mind, consider ways to help relieve some of the pressures on students in areas most affected by Hurricane Harvey.”
Houston ISD Trustee Rhonda
“In times of crisis, it is important to re-examine some regulations related to accountability placed on those living in devastated areas.” Gov. Greg Abbott
Skillern-Jones commended Abbott for recognizing that the accountability system should be tweaked to accommodate students in areas drenched by more than 3 feet of rain during Harvey.
“I applaud accountability, but when you have kids whose lives
have been severely impacted, you’re treating trauma, you still have students and teachers displaced — it’s difficult to hold (them) to the same standard as others in the state who were not affected,” Skillern-Jones said. “I’m glad the governor is recognizing that there needs to be some compassion as Houston recovers.”
Morath has not yet announced how — or if — the state will use standardized test scores to grade students, teachers, schools and districts in stormtorn areas. But TEA spokeswoman Lauren Callahan said Tuesday that the department has been working to address concerns about accountability in the storm’s aftermath.
There is precedent for relaxing such standards. After Hurricane Ike swept across Galveston Bay in 2008, state officials gave storm-affected districts a “not rated” grade if they performed worse than the previous year or were deemed “academically unacceptable.”
Morath had warned lawmakers and education leaders that failing to administer the state’s battery of standardized tests would put the state in violation of U.S. law, threatening federal education funding. Federal dollars account for about 10 percent of the state’s school funding.
“We don’t think a waiver could be or would be granted,” Morath said in November. “There’s no precedent for that in federal history.”
School superintendents across Southeast Texas have said they would be willing to have their students take the State of Texas Assessments of Academic Readiness (STAAR), as that data could help schools address students’ problem areas. Administrators just don’t want to be labeled or punished based on the results.
Education leaders across Texas are also anxious about the state’s coming accountability rating system, which will make a soft debut next year. The Texas Legislature approved evaluating schools and districts on an A-through-F letter grade system based on various performance factors, including student scores on the STAAR exams. Districts are scheduled to receive letter grades in August, with individual schools getting the grades in 2019.
Linda Macias, associate superintendent of curriculum, instruction and accountability at the Cypress-Fairbanks ISD, said the TEA has not finalized how the letter grades will be calculated. She said it would be unfair for any campus or district to be judged by a set of measures they do not yet know — and especially cruel to use the soon-to-be-finished system in Harvey-affected areas.
“We’re not opposed to accountability, it just needs to be fair,” Macias said. “And at this time, there’s nothing fair about (the accountability ratings) for schools or districts that are part of the federal disaster area.”
Katy ISD Superintendent Lance Hindt asked the state Senate Committee on Education to rate all schools and districts within the Hurricane Harvey Disaster Area as “not rated- data integrity issues.” That idea has gained traction among superintendents and other education leaders anxious about potential letter grades.
“For us, F stands for flood, not a failing district,” said Charlotte Baker, executive director of the Education Service Center 3 located in Victoria, in testimony before the Texas House’s Public Education Committee. “It should not stand for a district dealing with the social and emotional challenges of the community and schools as we allocate all efforts towards recovery.”