Following the release of long-awaited A-F accountability ratings from the Texas Education Agency (TEA), Austin Independent School District Superintendent Matias Segura said modest improvements in scores show the district is making progress.
“There's obviously a lot of work to get to do with the number of D's and F's that we have, but when you look at the trend, it's trending in the right direction,” Segura said at a Friday press conference.
The TEA’s A-F scores for both the 2023-24 and 2024-25 academic years were released Friday. AISD received a system-wide letter grade of C in 2025. The district saw the number of campuses rated A increase from 16 in 2024 to 22 in 2025. The number of AISD's F-rated campuses fell from 29 in 2024 to 23 in 2025.
However, TEA Commissioner Mike Morath had criticisms for the district’s performance.
"Austin ISD has an extremely high number of chronically underperforming campuses," Morath said. "That is a very significant problem, and that is a problem that doesn't just happen on its own."
AISD said it's proud to see more A-rated schools and fewer Fs. The district said 69 of its 116 campuses showed overall growth and 35 campuses boosted their letter grade. That included 11 schools moving up from an F or D to a C.
"These improvements reflect the dedication of our students, the tireless commitment of our teachers and staff and the steady focus we have placed on systemwide improvement," AISD spokesperson Cristina Nguyen said in a statement. "Now we need to accelerate that movement to ensure every student realizes their highest potential."
Among the district’s F-rated schools are Dobie, Burnet and Webb middle schools — marking a fourth year of consecutive failing grades for those campuses. The district has filed turnaround plans with the TEA for those schools, pledging to show marked improvements. If the schools receive a fifth year of failing grades, the Texas education commissioner could remove the elected school board members and replace them with a board of managers.
But Segura said those campuses, too, showed progress. Dobie and Webb both received a score of 59 — almost a D — up from last year’s scores of 46 and 54, respectively. Burnet scored a 54, down three points from the previous year.
“Not all F's are created equal,” Segura said. “There's a lot of growth to do. Obviously, we want to move to D and then ultimately to C. We want to break the accountability chain, and I'm confident that we will.”
A long-awaited scoresheet
The new scores from the TEA cover more than 9,000 campuses and 1,200 school districts statewide.
The accountability ratings for the last two school years had been kept secret by court order after a coalition of school districts sued the TEA, arguing the agency's new rating system unfairly moved the goal post on factors like college and career readiness. Last month, a state appeals court ruled the ratings can be released.
Parents can see how their child's school performed under the state's accountability system for both the 2023-24 and 2024-25 school years at TXschools.gov. The TEA says the ratings measure student achievement, academic growth and readiness for college or careers.
The site includes a map that lets users search for schools near an address and compare data points among different campuses.
School accountability ratings often have ripple effects far beyond the classroom. Higher grades can boost nearby rents and property values as families seek housing closer to a top-rated school. Lower ratings can have the opposite effect.
Morath said the campus report cards should be viewed as a snapshot of a school's ability to help students succeed, not as a judgement of any single child's ability.
"Even at F campuses, there are some kids who actually end up with a great education," he said. "It's just, the overwhelming majority of students at that campus do not. ... Even at an A campus, your individual child may not get the kinds of support that they need."
