This month, Texas Education Commissioner Mike Morath didn't mince words: Fort Worth ISD's uptick in scores isn't enough. "Fort Worth has significant academic challenges; its level of grade level proficiency is materially lower than Dallas, even though demographically they are not any different," he said as he released accountability scores. Soon, Morath will be in Fort Worth touring different campuses as he plans the district's next step, which could include replacing the school board and the superintendent despite the improvement seen recently. view article

Democrats say recent changes to the bill give too much power to the TEA and fall short of meaningfully easing the pressures of standardized testing. view article

New research shows that Humble ISD, located in northeast Harris County, is among the top 50 school districts in the nation where families are looking to relocate to. Cross-referencing data from GreatSchools ratings and what properties home buyers are looking for, real estate website Realtor.com found the most popular districts that families were relocating to across 50 different metropolitan areas in the country. Humble ISD, the website stated, was most appealing due to the affordable homes near the school district. view article

Some Democrats lamented that the House’s latest proposal to scrap the test largely resembles a Senate bill the lower chamber declined to sign on earlier this year.  A Texas House panel on Thursday advanced a proposal to scrap STAAR, the end-of-the-year state standardized test, but not without some Democrats lamenting the changes the lower chamber made to reach an agreement with the Senate.  Lawmakers in the House and Senate are considering nearly identical bills to replace the test as they gather for a second special legislative session, signaling newfound agreement between chamber leaders after negotiations broke down during the regular session. Senate Bill 9 and House Bill 8 would swap STAAR for three shorter tests to be administered at the beginning, middle and end of the school year. view article

Riviera ISD just scored big on the state’s latest report card and district leaders say it’s proof their students are putting in the work. The Texas Education Agency raised the district’s overall grade from a C to a B. Riviera Elementary earned a B, the middle school also landed a B, and the high school? Straight A’s... same as last year. view article

As students in the Austin Independent School District head back to school, the district is preparing for potential school consolidations in the 2026-27 school year. Superintendent Matias Segura acknowledged the concerns of parents. "I don't want our families to worry, you know, we are thinking about it," he said. view article

Two weeks before the new school year, Tatiana Brown Gomez, 24, was laughing with her students at Dobie Middle School’s open house. The English teacher showed up to encourage them for what is expected to be a challenging and consequential year. But Brown-Gomez will largely have to watch the year play out from afar. She is among several current and former Austin Independent School District core subject teachers who were removed from their roles at the district’s three lowest-performing schools and replaced with new educators. view article

The word takeover wasn’t uttered during a recent Lake Worth school board meeting, but the possibility lingered in the air.  “We’re going to talk about the elephant in the room,” Superintendent Mark Ramirez said to trustees flanking his sides and district employees in the audience.  School district leaders outlined a path forward for an elementary school whose persistent failure triggered a Texas law requiring action. However, the fate of the school and the district is in the hands of Texas Education Commissioner Mike Morath.  The commissioner has two options for Lake Worth ISD: view article

The Austin Independent School District superintendent said the district’s declining enrollment numbers are leaving too many schools under capacity and sees campus closures and consolidations as part of the solution. While he declined to pinpoint how many campuses could close, Matias Segura said it’ll be “more than a handful,” and added the district is looking to reduce costs by $30 million. view article

Beaumont Independent School District Superintendent Dr. Shannon Allen expressed her dismay over comments made by Texas Education Commissioner Mike Morath regarding the district's recent STAAR test results. During a "Breakfast with the Superintendent" event on Tuesday, Allen addressed the situation, saying she was "shocked" by Morath's remarks. view article

Over half of the top-rated campuses in North Texas, earning a score of 99 and above, are Dallas ISD schools, data from the Texas Education Agency shows. Several Dallas ISD magnet schools received top marks from the TEA. One Dallas ISD campus, School for the Talented and Gifted, received a score of 100. It is the only school in North Texas to receive a perfect score. The school’s rating ticked up one point between 2024 and 2024, data shows. view article

Lake Worth ISD faces a potential state takeover after the newly-released Texas Education Agency (TEA) A-F school accountability ratings for 2023-2024 and 2024-2025 showed an elementary school failing for a fifth consecutive year. This would be the second school district in Tarrant County to face this intervention, as Fort Worth ISD awaits a decision from Texas Education Agency (TEA) Commissioner Mike Morath in the coming months. view article

The leader of the Texas Education Agency is celebrating the success of schools all across the state, right here in Lubbock. Lubbock ISD’s Wester Elementary was featured on TEA Commissioner Mike Morath’s statewide-tour to recognize districts’ improved accountability ratings. At their celebration after school Monday afternoon, the Wester Whirlwinds showed off some of what they learned last year. Hard work from the students, their teachers and their leadership led to an “A” accountability rating from the TEA. view article

High schools in Alief, Spring, Spring Branch, Katy and Houston ISDs, as well as a few charter districts, snagged spots as the best in the Houston region, according to rankings released Tuesday by U.S. News & World Report. Despite the strong suburban showing of high-performing high schools, Houston ISD claimed the region's top six spots. Two high schools in the district were also among the top 10 high schools in the state and the top 100 high schools in the U.S. view article

The Texas Education Agency released public school accountability ratings for the 2023-24 and 2024-25 school years on Aug. 15, wrapping up a legal battle that began nearly two years prior. Texans can find the updated accountability ratings for K-12 districts and individual campuses at www.txschools.gov.  The big picture: Across the state, most school districts and campuses maintained or improved their A-F ratings between the 2023-24 to 2024-25 school years. Of 1,208 districts, 24% received a higher rating, while 64% kept the same rating and 12% received a lower rating, TEA data shows.  Thirty-one percent of Texas’ 9,084 public school campuses received a higher grade in 2025. Meanwhile, 55% received the same grade and 15% received a lower grade. The TEA said that 757 campuses improved from a B or lower in 2024 to an A in 2025. view article

Connally, Lake Worth, Beaumont, Wichita Falls and Fort Worth school districts have all amassed five consecutive failing grades at one or more of its campuses, the threshold to trigger state action, a Texas Education Agency spokesperson confirmed with The Texas Tribune on Friday. view article

Test scores rose slightly after math scores previously fell last year.  New scores on the state's standardized test released on Friday show a slight improvement in both students’ reading and math scores over last year when math scores slipped.  The share of students meeting grade-level standards rose this year from 53% to 54% in reading and from 41% to 43% in math.  Students’ performance on the State of Texas Assessments of Academic Readiness exam is a window into their proficiency in math and reading skills — skills they’ll need to succeed after high school.  Early literacy can be a strong predictor of educational attainment and academic performance later in life. And having solid math skills early on sets up a pipeline to high-paying, in-demand STEM jobs. view article

Test scores rose slightly after math scores previously fell last year.  New scores on the state's standardized test released on Friday show a slight improvement in both students’ reading and math scores over last year when math scores slipped.  The share of students meeting grade-level standards rose this year from 53% to 54% in reading and from 41% to 43% in math.  Students’ performance on the State of Texas Assessments of Academic Readiness exam is a window into their proficiency in math and reading skills — skills they’ll need to succeed after high school.  Early literacy can be a strong predictor of educational attainment and academic performance later in life. And having solid math skills early on sets up a pipeline to high-paying, in-demand STEM jobs. view article

After years of legal delays, the Texas Education Agency released accountability ratings on Friday, showing how public schools performed in 2024 and 2025. The ratings paint a precarious picture for three Austin Independent School District campuses that have already undergone significant changes ahead of the new school year. view article

AUSTIN, TX – August 15, 2025 — The Texas Education Agency (TEA) today released the 2025 A-F Accountability Ratings for public school systems and campuses across the state. Additionally, the delayed 2024 ratings have been made available to school systems and the public following the resolution of legal proceedings that previously prevented their release.   The release of the 2025 A-F Ratings reestablishes critical transparency for Texas families, communities and school leaders after two years of lawsuit-induced delays.   view article

FWISD touts more A-rated schools, academic progress in ratings. Is it enough to avoid state takeover? view article

An investigation by ProPublica and The Texas Tribune found more than 60 instances of nepotism, self-dealing and conflicts of interest among 27 private schools that likely would have violated state laws had the schools been public. view article

In Bellville, a rich German heritage lingers in the last names hanging off storefronts, in the round "Turnverein" dance hall, and in the traditional sausages still sold at its meat market downtown.  For a place so steeped in history — the town was founded by a member of Stephen F. Austin's "Old Three Hundred" — the 4,000-member enclave isn't short on novelty. Before reaching Bellville's medieval-style castle, a traveler passing through from Houston may be surprised not just by the Trump Burger chain's flagship restaurant and Austin County's imposing, Modernist courthouse, but by the innovation coming from within its own public school district.  wEvery Texas district receives an "A-F" rating from the Texas Education Agency each year. Based largely on results from students' State of Texas Assessments of Academic Readiness exams, particularly for elementary and middle schools, the ratings can potentially impact a district's reputation, enrollment, and, in cases of state takeovers, its ability to elect its own board leadership. view article

MIDLAND — La’Toya Mayberry is proud of many things.  She’s proud of her family’s West Texas roots. She’s proud of her two daughters, Aniyah and Erinn, two formidably academic athletes who are continuing the family’s basketball legacy.    And five years ago, she was proud of the Midland Independent School District. Its board of trustees had voted to rename a school carrying the name of Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee, which she considered a stain on the community, to Legacy High School.  That pride may soon give way to shame. A new configuration of the Midland school board is set to consider reverting the school’s name to Midland Lee, affixing Lee’s legacy once more. A vote may come as early as Tuesday. view article

Arlington ISD’s enrollment could drop below 50,000 in the next seven years, a report recently presented to the school board revealed.  The presentation showed two factors are contributing to the possible drop off in enrollment: competition with charter schools and the waning enrollment of kindergarteners.  The stagnation of growth in the enrollment numbers since the COVID-19 pandemic is not an issue just isolated to Arlington ISD — it is affecting the entire state.  “We are still the fastest-growing state in the country and yet, we are seeing these low numbers,” demographer Rocky Gardiner told trustees in April.   Zonda Education, a Southlake-based demographic firm that works with the district, created the projections.  The overall enrollment will land around 49,000 students in 2032 and stay around that amount for the remainder of the 10-year stretch.   The district has lost more students than it has gained through new enrollment each year since the 2018-19 school year, according to Zonda Education.  view article

6 trending stories in the Austin area: New retail construction; Waterline tower updates; Chisholm Trail traffic pattern changes and more view article

The TEA commissioner said the state is watching Fort Worth ISD closely and might replace the school board. view article

Efforts to reform the State of Texas Assessment of Academic Readiness, or STAAR tests, in Texas schools died a slow death in late spring. But in their special session, legislators may consider it again, with a bill to replace “end of year” state assessments with three shorter tests throughout the school year. Like many of my fellow Texas teachers, I’m watching with interest. STAAR has long been an imperfect standardized assessment on our students, damaging them and our schools. It’s time to say goodbye to STAAR. Read more at: https://www.star-telegram.com/opinion/opn-columns-blogs/other-voices/article311593848.html#storylink=cpy view article

HOUSTON, Texas – Houston Independent School District, the largest school district in Texas, announced Tuesday that it expects 74% of its schools to receive an A or B rating in the state’s 2024-2025 accountability ratings.  This would be an increase from two years ago, when only 35% of HISD schools earned those ratings. view article

Zero Houston ISD schools received an "F" in the Texas Education Agency's A-F accountability ratings this year, while 18 received a "D," according to preliminary scores released by state-appointed Superintendent Mike Miles Tuesday afternoon.  In 2023, 121 of the district's 274 campuses received a "D" or "F" rating on the annual statewide ratings, which measure school achievement and progress primarily through State of Texas Assessments of Academic Readiness exams. Two years into the state takeover, the state's largest district had just 18, all of which were D's.  Nearly three-quarters of the district's students are now attending "A" and "B" rated schools, up from 35% two years ago, Miles said in a live presentation. view article

Julieta Crispín Castro arrived early for her first day of summer camp, ready to prepare for the state’s standardized test, when the 13-year-old learned that one of her favorite people at Dobie Middle School would not be around next fall.“I’m not qualified to come back,” English language arts teacher Tatiana Brown-Gomez told Crispín, borrowing language the Austin school district used to explain why she was laid off as part of a sweeping staff shakeup.  Crispín’s face deflated.    “What? That doesn't make any sense,” she said.  The Austin Independent School District fired Brown-Gomez, a handful of other teachers and the principal after Texas gave Dobie two consecutive F ratings under its accountability system, a state tool largely based on scores from STAAR, the state’s standardized test. view article

Several school districts in Texas have sued against the release of the STAAR tests to help determine schools' performance ratings. Kingsville Independent School District started that lawsuit in 2023. The lawsuit argues it's against the Texas education agency accountability rating system, adding the STAAR test results are not 'valid and reliable' and should not be used to assign school ratings. view article

The 344 students recognized as AP Scholars for their outstanding performance on the May 2025 Advanced Placement (AP) exams marks a 47 percent increase in number of students from the previous year, with all four high school campuses contributing to this achievement. view article

Humble ISD recently approved its fiscal year 2025-26 budget, and STAAR scores for the spring 2025 tests were released. Learn more about these education updates below. Humble ISD students either exceeded or tied state averages in 15 of the 20 grade levels and subjects tested in the spring 2025 State of Texas Assessments of Academic Readiness, according to results released by the Texas Education Agency on June 17. view article

Several parents at Sinton ISD are raising concerns about inconsistent course enrollment policies they claim have unfairly disadvantaged some students, according to grievances filed with the district. Charles Suarez, a parent of a Sinton High School student, told KRIS 6 his son was denied the opportunity to take dual-credit classes as a sophomore, while other students in the same grade were permitted to enroll. view article