Alief ISD votes to join lawsuit against TEA accountability rating system
HOUSTON - The Alief Independent School District Board has voted in favor of participating in the lawsuit against the Texas Education Agency (TEA) during their meeting on Tuesday night.
According to a release, this will make the district the second district in the Houston area and the first urban district in the Houston area to join the lawsuit. The other district being Spring Branch ISD.
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School officials said the lawsuit was initiated and filed by Kingsville ISD, which is located near Corpus Christi.
Since then, officials said more than 50 school districts have united and joined the lawsuit.
"We continue to be committed to meeting the needs of our students, faculty, and staff here in Alief," Alief ISD Superintendent of Schools Dr. Anthony Mays said in a release. "We recognize TEA’s current practice of changing the game's rules during the middle of the game could adversely impact our schools and community. In a time when public educators desperately need support, this action continues to make already challenging work more difficult by not acknowledging and respecting the hard work of our teachers and administrators."
The lawsuit is requesting that the TEA halt the publication of this year's accountability ratings to allow the school district to adapt to the revised sliding scale. This request would also coincide with the introduction of a revamped STAAR Test. The Alief Board of Trustees made their point clear.
"Students and staff are expected to follow a defined set of rules and responsibilities," the Alief ISD Board of Trustees said. "The same should be said for TEA. No one is above the law."