Mike Miles, superintendent of the Houston ISD, visited Thomas Jefferson Elementary School on Aug. 15 to discuss the district’s improved scores from the Texas Education Agency. (Photo by Melissa Phillip/Houston Chronicle via Getty Images)
Houston ISD received a B in 2025 scores from the Texas Education Agency. Across the district, 74% of schools received an A or B grade.
Houston ISD scored a dramatic turnaround under the latest accountability ratings from the Texas Education Agency, marking the first time in years that no campus in the district received an F.
The school district earned an overall B rating, up from a C in 2024, in the TEA’s 2025 A-F Accountability Ratings, which were released on Aug. 15. In the 2020–21 school year, the district had 56 campuses with an F, prompting a state takeover in 2023. As of this year, 74% of HISD campuses are rated A or B, according to TEA.
“For the first time, not one HISD student is attending a failing school,” Superintendent Mike Miles said during a press conference at Jefferson Elementary School, a campus that improved from a D to an A in just one year. “I don’t care where you live in Houston now, you are close to an A or B school if you’re not in one already.”
The TEA scores evaluate districts based on student achievement, academic growth and closing performance gaps. Miles added HISD now has 70,000 students attending B-rated schools.
“We went from 93 A and B rated campuses two years ago to 197,” Miles said. “We’re breaking the downward spiral and we’re just shooting back up.”
Statewide, 24% of districts and 31% of campuses improved letter grades compared to 2024. Most campuses maintained their previous rating, while 15% saw a decline.
In the Houston area, several districts joined HISD in earning a B rating, including Cypress-Fairbanks ISD, Katy ISD and Fort Bend ISD. Tomball ISD, Pearland ISD and Friendswood ISD were among six districts to receive an A rating. Charter networks such as KIPP Texas and YES Prep also earned B grades.
Only one public district in the Houston region, Cleveland ISD, received an F rating. Six charter schools also received a failing grade.
Meanwhile, for HISD, the ratings mark a significant milestone.
“It means they are narrowing the gap,” Miles said. “It means that they will have a better academic future in middle school and in high school. Then they will have more opportunities once they graduate from high school if we continue them on that trajectory.”
