On Monday, Travis County Judge Karin Crump temporarily blocked the Texas Education Agency (TEA) from releasing school ratings for the second consecutive year. The ruling came on the same day that Texas school districts filed a second lawsuit against the state, challenging changes made in the metrics used to evaluate their performance. Read the order granting the temporary restraining order here. 
 
In 2023, the Texas Legislature asked TEA to revamp the STAAR test. The agency’s redesign allowed for online administration, reduced the number of multiple-choice questions, and introduced the use of artificial intelligence to grade written responses, among other changes. TEA also announced last year that schools would need to meet stricter benchmarks to achieve good ratings on the A-F accountability system scale. High schools used to be rated “A” if 60% of their seniors pursued a non-college career, entered the military, or enrolled in college. Now 88% of their seniors must meet that benchmark for an A. School districts have concerns about these new standards, particularly for college readiness, as well as about AI grading, and are arguing the state is pushing these changes too quickly. 
 
School districts’ first lawsuit, filed last fall, argued that districts weren’t given enough notice about the new college readiness benchmarks, leading the court to temporarily block the 2023-24 ratings. TEA plans to appeal this decision. In the lawsuit filed Monday, districts are questioning the validity of STAAR results, particularly since scores have dropped significantly, a change they believe is due to the new automated grading system rather than student or teacher performance. 
 
Schools have not received official A-F grades for five years. The 2020 and 2021 ratings were skipped due to the pandemic, and in 2022, struggling schools were spared official ratings under Senate Bill 1365 to allow them time to recover from pandemic impacts.