AUSTIN, Texas — The Texas Education Agency’s (TEA) accountability ratings saw little change this year, but one Central Texas school district is at risk of intervention over repeat F ratings.
As a mom of two Austin Independent School District graduates, Sharyn Vane with Keep Austin Schools Independent wants to see the district avoid state takeover after two Austin middle schools got their fifth consecutive failing grades — the threshold for a takeover.
“We have issues we need to address, and we wanna be able to address them our way. We’re already seeing some improvements with the 2026 scores, and a takeover is gonna hurt our kids,” said Vane.
Earlier this year, the state took over Fort Worth ISD along with Lake Worth ISD — located north of Fort Worth — replacing their superintendents and school boards and implementing new teaching programs at underperforming schools. In Houston, the state takeover has led to improvements in standardized testing scores and fewer failing schools, but it has also led to the departure of many students and teachers.
But a Fort Worth principal believes the changes are working.
“The playbook, as we call it, of the ELEVATE world is really helpful in the consistent model, the systems and structures that are there for us that we implement. The biggest thing for our students right now is consistency in every single classroom,” said Melissa Strong, principal of William Monnig Middle School.
The state’s accountability ratings are heavily based on test results and graduation rates, along with how districts compare to others with similar economic populations.
Overall, the share of A- and B-rated campuses statewide combined increased from 59% to 61%.
“What’s important to me about the accountability ratings is that they tell me how a particular campus is doing in serving children. And then we can look at whether or not that campus is under or over-performing similar types of campuses,” said Mary Lynn Pruneda, director for education and workforce policy at Texas 2036.
It’s unclear whether the state will move to take over Austin ISD. The district and Texas Education Agency Commissioner Mike Morath did not reply to our requests for comment.
But Vane is concerned a takeover doesn’t account for all the challenges students face.
“What TEA wants to do is come in and apply this cookie-cutter metric about one test on one day and have that be how we decide how our children are learning. And there’s so much more to what our kids need to learn and how they need to learn that can be included in this incredibly just prescriptive curriculum that they’ve got going under takeover,” she said.
Districts have until Sept. 11 to appeal their ratings.