A-F Outrage Spurs Lawmaker's Move to Kill Texas' New School Grading Plan

On the day the state got its first glimpse of the new grading system for schools, one lawmaker is ready to scrap it altogether and use one that avoids giving campuses F's.Today's "what if" grades are a look at the new schools accountability system that Texas Education Commissioner Mike Morath stresses is still very much a work in progress. The new A-F system won't actually take effect until 2018.But Rep. Mary Gonzalez, D-Clint, filed a bill today that would do away with the controversial new grades and bring back ratings Texas once used to label schools: exemplary, recognized, acceptable or needs improvement."The simplicity of A-F ignores the complexity and diversity of our schools, such as differences in funding or concentration of poverty," Gonzalez said in a statement. "Unfortunately, it will target low-income and communities of color as 'failures.' It is unjust and hardly transparent."It's likely we'll see more legislation attacking thew new system after the session kicks off later this month as educators and public school advocate say this first look shows just how broken the new system will be.Morath issued a statement Friday morning once again stressing that the new system is likely to change before it's unveiled in 2018."No inferences about official district or campus performance in the 2015-16 school year should be drawn from these ratings, and these ratings should not be considered predictors of future district or campus performance ratings," he said.  Continue reading...