TEXAS — On Friday, the Texas Education Agency (TEA) released its annual accountability ratings for districts and their schools for 2026. It’s how the state grades its public school districts.

There’s a lot riding on these scores, including a district’s independence.

The TEA gives ratings on an A-F scale, with F being failing and A succeeding. The report showed that 61% of the state’s public schools received an A or B this year, which is up from last year by 2%.

However, once a campus receives an F rating for five years in a row, the state can legally take over that district.

Austin Independent School District may be one of them this school year. There were three schools on the verge of triggering a state intervention with four F ratings in a row. Burnet and Webb middle schools just received their fifth F rating.

Dobie Middle School, which had been struggling to get out of an F, improved to a D.

In Waco, South Waco Elementary saw its rating go down from 58 last year to 49 this past school year. Dean Highland Elementary maintained its F as well. For both schools, this is their fifth F rating in a row, which means Waco ISD could also see the state intervene.

There’s good news for Spring ISD’s Dekaney High outside of Houston: after four years of F ratings, it got up to a C.

Spectrum News has been following schools already under state takeover, including Fort Worth ISD. The district remained at a C but improved a few points this year, receiving a 77 out of 100 compared to last year’s 73.

The school that triggered their state takeover closed, but the district saw the number of D and F-rated campuses decline from 39 to 26.

Houston ISD is hoping to be out of its state takeover by June 2027. Overall, the district landed at a B, only improving by one point from last year’s score of 84. But the school behind their intervention, Wheatley High School, got an A for the first time in years.

Lake Worth ISD, which went under state control last school year, improved slightly but remains at a D rating. Its Marilyn Miller Language Academy, which had been getting recurring F ratings, improved to a D.

“One of the things that moms and dads across the state have got to know, and as a mom myself I feel this deeply, is we need to pay attention to how our public schools are doing and how they’re performing on those four core subjects: reading, math, science and history,” said Mary Lynn Pruneda, director for education and workforce policy at Texas 2036. “Just because you live in a super nice neighborhood or you have a really great expensive house, doesn’t necessarily mean that your school is delivering for your student.”

A large chunk of the score looks at student achievement. This includes STAAR results, plus college, career and military readiness and high school graduation rates.

The state also looks at how individual schools are progressing each year and how they compare to similar campuses. Then the state considers how a school educates its students facing greater challenges, like high poverty levels or special education. The TEA calls it “closing the gap.”

For families interested in learning more about their child’s district or school, they can find the state’s full list here.