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A longtime principal friend said if you do something that helps kids and helps the school ratings, do that thing.

But if it helps the rating and harms kids, do not do that thing.

HISD Superintendent Mike Miles has systematically held back students from certain courses to inflate ratings. 

It helps the ratings, but it harms kids. Schools should not do that thing.

He has closed successful AP programs at NES high schools all over Houston. Now some have A ratings but at the expense of student access. 

It helps the ratings, but it harms kids. Schools should not do that thing.

He has shuffled 5,000 fragile special education students across HISD—not to help them, but to inflate ratings at lower-rated schools, since these students consistently pass their version of STAAR.

It helps the ratings, but it harms kids. Schools should not do that thing.

Parents want schools to help their children learn. Parents want schools to help their children feel loved and safe. Parents want schools to help their children respect themselves so much that they can imagine a bright and meaningful future. Teachers want the same thing.

Those are the things schools should do.

Learning should always matter more than the ratings. There is a cost to endless standardized testing, rigged scores, and magic ratings that go up during an election year. 

A higher rating means little if students are learning less. It is long past time to end the A-F rating system to evaluate students and schools.

Keep this in mind when you read the ratings coverage below.

• Search TEA Ratings at txschools.gov.

• HISD’s academic gains slow in latest ratings, but more schools receive 'A' and 'B' grades -Houston Chronicle. “I'm not surprised by the district potentially plateauing its grades or seeing that campuses are starting to struggle more,” DeMatthews said. “Any struggles that HISD will have will be tied to the long-term trajectory, not some of the quick ways that district administrators know to get test scores up.” 

• 4 HISD schools receive F ratings, Mike Miles says, a year after there were no failing campuses, Houston Public Media

• Texas’ school A-F grades relatively flat as Austin ISD inches closer to takeover, Texas Tribune

• What the Texas Education Agency’s A-F ratings actually mean, KXAN News

• HISD: 4Fs, More As and Bs and Special Ed Questions Continue, Houston Press