Hutto ISD joins lawsuit challenging new state standards
EDIE ZUVANICH Special to the Press
HUTTO — Hutto Independent School District’s board of trustees voted unanimously to join more than 50 other districts across Texas in a lawsuit protesting changes to the Texas Education Agency’s school accountability system. The board authorized Superintendent Raúl Peña to sign a letter of engagement to join the lawsuit at a special meeting on Sept. 20.
The system, which assigns all campuses and districts an A-F grade based on performance factors, was changed in a way which officials say will result in a lower grade for almost all schools, even those who have performed better. The new evaluations will be retroactively based on the previous school year’s performance so there is nothing schools can do to improve their scores.
“Hutto ISD, like all districts in Texas, firmly believes in a system of accountability — not only for our staff, but our students. We expect to meet and exceed high standards in our pursuit to provide students with a premier public education,” Peña said. “However, it is imperative that we are aware of the state’s expectations and guidelines ahead of time. Right now, the state’s new A-F rating system is to be applied retroactively after our students have been administered the annual (State of Texas Assessments of Academic Readiness) test and a new school year has already begun.”
“This 11th-hour change to the accountability system does not reflect our district’s most recent improvements, which show Hutto ISD students currently outperforming the state in many areas. Simply put, our test scores have gone up, but under the new system our ratings are projected to decrease. The decision to modify these standards after our students have completed their assessments is both unfair and unjust,” Peña said.
The lawsuit seeks to postpone the implementation of this new system until at least next year and to retain the district’s present rating for the current year.
“It’s really unfair to not just our students, it’s unfair to our staff and it’s unfair to our teachers,” said HISD Trustee James Matlock. “(TEA Commissioner of Education Mike) Morath is on record stating that there will be multiple districts statewide that have done better on the STAAR but they have the chance of a decrease in score.”
“To me, it seems it’s just another way to make our schools look bad, just another way to make public education look bad,” said Trustee Terrence Owens.
School district officials in Dallas, Houston and other major areas have voiced concerns that parents look at a school’s letter grade when determining where to move, so a low grade can affect property values and student enrollment. Student enrollment determines state funding, so districts could face loss of finances, resources and difficulty recruiting teachers.
To HISD Trustee Shannon Jacobs, the controversial changes seem political.
“It’s become something, in my opinion, that’s about justifying vouchers and it’s not fair to our kids that are in public schools,” Jacobs said.
Amy English, acting as board president in the absence of Billie Logiudice, agreed that the changes seemed to be about something other than accurately evaluating school performance.
“The new system being implemented without advance notice will give a false appearance that schools across the state, including Hutto ISD, are declining,” English said. “We want to send a message that we will not allow our children to be used as political pawns so that school vouchers can be pushed upon us.”
The idea that the changes are somehow designed to promote passage of a publiclysubsidized school voucher program is one voiced by many outspoken school district representatives across the state.
The TEA was scheduled to announce the new rating results for school districts and campuses Sept. 28. Governor Greg Abbott has promised to call a special legislative session in October to address “school choice,” and possibly more special sessions if the voucher program does not pass in October.
However, on Sept. 12 TEA announced a delay in the implementation of the new rating system. The agency now says the grades will be published in October or November.
As of Sept. 20, Taylor ISD had not joined the lawsuit, according to a district spokesperson.
