Empowering Texas Families to Make Informed School Choices

Texas families have seen a growing number of options for their students in recent years, from the growth of public charter schools, magnet programs, P-TECHs and other innovative learning models in traditional public schools, as well as private schools at a wide range of price points. But how do they know which is the best option for their student? Put simply: School choice can only be effective if it is an informed choice. 

For the past two years, a series of lawsuits has interfered with Texans’ ability to reliably compare their public school choices by halting A-F accountability ratings for the 2023 and 2024 school years. A recent court ruling has dismissed the 2023 lawsuit, paving the way for the Texas Education Agency to release full letter grades for districts and campuses from nearly two years ago.

But this data – from the 2022-23 school year – represents a lagged picture that doesn’t fully capture growth that may have occurred on a campus since. This inconsistency creates a difficult task in understanding what the ratings reflect, and it underscores the need for a reliable system. 

Last month (prior to the latest ruling), the Commit Partnership hosted a discussion about how to ensure Texas families are empowered to make informed school choices featuring Trenace Dorsey-Hollins, a parent and executive director of Parent Shield Fort Worth; Robert Selders Jr., board president of Garland ISD; Dr. Jeannie Stone, former superintendent of Richardson ISD; and Kate Greer, managing director of the Policy and State Coalition at the Commit Partnership.

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When parents are evaluating their options, said Ms. Dorsey-Hollins, “we want to know how those schools are doing,” and “without that A-F rating [produced by the Texas Education Agency], there was really no way for us to find that information out.” 

A recent report by the Commit Partnership confirms her observation. The report found that the increase of innovative public school models in Dallas County has helped to improve student outcomes, but educational outcomes vary widely — some campuses achieve remarkable growth in academic achievement for their students while others underperform compared to schools with similar populations. The A-F accountability system provides parents with actionable information that can help them make informed decisions about where to enroll their students.

And parents aren’t the only ones who can use the A-F ratings to make informed decisions. School administrators have used this data to address problems.

“When I was a superintendent,” said Dr. Stone, “I came in and the district had just received their very first…equivalent to today’s F in the A-F system. And that was a wake up call for us to have feedback on four of our schools that desperately needed more attention.”

Unfortunately, full A–F ratings have only been awarded once since being established by the Texas Legislature in 2017, depriving Texas parents and guardians of actionable information ever since. Worse, campuses that otherwise could have received needed resources and interventions had the system still been working as intended are continuing to fail students.

“Just like not giving letter grades to kids,” explained Dr. Stone, “no one knows exactly how those campuses are doing because there’s no transparency and accountability.”

Garland ISD board president Robert Selders, Jr. agrees. A-F accountability data “gave us a clear way to have a clear focus as a board to improve student outcomes…You can’t fix what you’re not willing to face.”

For Commit’s Kate Greer, the need for a strong school accountability system is both personal and professional. “We have not had full accountability ratings since [my daughter] was in elementary school,” she noted, something she called “a real disservice” to parents like herself. 

It’s also a disservice to Texas Legislators. “Legislators want to know — and, frankly, have the right to know — what’s working,” she explained. “Because when we have that ability, we can scale best practices and sometimes, more importantly, capture those kids who are being left behind and ensure that they have a stronger academic trajectory that they will need to have economic mobility after high school.”

As Texas families continue to see a growing number of educational opportunities, parents need credible, unbiased information to help them make informed choices about the best option for their students. And as school leaders strive to better serve their students, they need objective feedback on how they are performing so that they can make informed decisions about how to target resources in ways that boost student achievement. 

Texas lawmakers took an important step in providing this information to parents and schools when they established the A-F accountability system in 2017. Now, bills under consideration by the current legislature such as House Bill 4 and Senate Bill 1962 promise to restore and build upon the success of this system. As state lawmakers explore ways to continue expanding educational choices, it is vital that parents also receive the clarity, transparency and tools they need to make informed choices about their children’s education.