Leander ISD joins TEA lawsuit with other districts; leadership reacts
LEANDER, Texas - Leander ISD is joining other Texas school districts in a lawsuit against the Texas Education Agency (TEA) on accountability ratings.
"It's very clear to us that the commissioner did not give school districts adequate notice of the changes in the accountability system ahead of time," said Leander ISD superintendent Dr. Bruce Gearing. "And so, we are now 23, 24. We still have not had notice about what the accountability will be like for this year."
The accountability system shows how the district is doing as a whole in an A to F rating.
Del Valle ISD superintendent Dr. Annette Tielle in a statement said the district is disappointed in TEA for painting a picture that public school districts, including Del Valle, are failing.
With this new system, Dr. Gearing says it could affect the community's perspective on where to send their children to school.
"We do think that accountability is important. We do believe that we should be held to high standards, and we hold our students to very high expectations," he said. "But state accountability is just one small piece of that."
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Del Valle said in August, in part, "While we are focusing on your children's success, we are being pulled into a political agenda."
On Thursday afternoon, Gov. Greg Abbott announced a third special session to take place on Monday, Oct. 9. Items on the agenda include education.
"We believe that public schools already offer school choice, and that there is no amount of money that they could offer us that would cause us to say that public dollars coming from our taxpayers should be taken away from public schools and given to private schools," Dr. Gearing said. "So, we are very firmly opposed to vouchers."
Dr. Gearing says it's important for the district to focus on the student's growth and learning.