The Texas Education Agency released its annual accountability scores for all Texas public schools for the 2025-2026 school year Friday morning.
The A-F ratings are meant to monitor how well districts and schools are educating their students, according to the state. They are based on graduation rates, college readiness, and how well students perform on the STAAR exam. The ratings are also based on how students perform over time, and how a district performs compared to other school districts with similar economically disadvantaged student populations.
The final measurement comes from “closing the gap,” which measures how well a district is ensuring all its students are successful, and how certain student populations, such as emergent bilingual students, are being served.
Under the state’s accountability system, ratings of A, B and C represent acceptable performance, while D and F ratings indicate unacceptable performance.
The ratings have long been controversial, with Democratic state lawmakers criticizing the system. Last year, state representative and gubernatorial candidate Gina Hinojosa (D-Austin) called the entire process “rigged” and “deceptive” and artificially inflating the number of failing public schools to lay the groundwork for state takeovers and Republican Gov. Gerg Abbott’s private school voucher program.
When House Bill 1842 passed in 2015, it required the TEA to intervene in any school district with a campus that receives five consecutive F ratings by either closing the campus or initiating a state takeover of its entire district.
The law has led to a steady increase in state intervention. Most recently, Fort Worth Independent School District was taken over this school year. Houston ISD, which was taken over in 2023, only had one failing campus despite the district having an overall B rating.
This year, the TEA reported that 24% of districts improved their overall rating compared with the 2024-2025 school year. Thirty-four percent scored a B, 23% scored a C, 10% scored a D, and 4% scored an F.
High-poverty campuses also improved last school year, according to the state. In 2026, 49% of high-poverty campuses earned either an A or B, compared with 47% in 2025. The agency also reported that the percentage of F-rated campuses declined statewide.
Dallas, Fort Worth, and Arlington ISDs are some of the largest districts in North Texas, and all saw increases in their scores. Fort Worth ISD was up four points year-over-year, increasing from 73 to 77 and receiving a C. Dallas ISD improved two points from 83 to 85 and maintained a B score, while Arlington ISD went up one point from 77 to 78 and earned a C. Northside ISD, the largest school district in the San Antonio area, earned a C.
Four Houston ISD elementary schools all received F ratings, despite the district being under state control—something the Texas American Federation of Teachers said is a “clear example of the state’s shortcomings in its approach at ‘assisting’ school districts without a proper understanding of what these districts actually need” in a statement.
See how your campus or district did here.
Austin ISD is at risk
Austin ISD earned an overall B rating, but two campuses—Burnet Middle School and Webb Middle School—earned their fifth consecutive failing grades, which is the threshold for state intervention. Now, TEA Commissioner Mike Morath must decide between shuttering the campuses or taking over the district.
Austin Mayor Kirk Watson told KUT News he hopes to avoid a takeover.
“There’s an appeal process, and then there’s some time before ultimate decisions have to be made, but I’m sure there’s going to be discussions about how successful things appear to be moving,” Watson told the outlet. “But the two schools that have had the five years in a row of F’s, something’s gonna need to happen there.”
District officials have until Sept. 11 to appeal the ratings. Austin ISD was the only district in Texas to trigger a potential state takeover based on the newly released scores.
