Mike Morath- Commissioner of Education | https://tea.texas.gov
The Texas Education Agency (TEA) has released the final 2024-2025 financial accountability ratings for public school systems under the School Financial Integrity Rating System of Texas (FIRST). FIRST was established by the 77th Texas Legislature in 2001 to ensure that Texas public schools are held accountable for their financial management practices. The ratings are based on annual financial reports submitted by school districts and charter schools for the 2024 fiscal year, which are then reviewed by TEA.
Under the system, school systems receive one of four letter grades—A, B, C, or F—which correspond to "Superior Achievement," "Above Standard Achievement," "Meets Standard Achievement," or "Substandard Achievement." For the 2024-2025 school year, TEA assigned a total of 1,190 ratings: 969 received an A (81%), 121 received a B (10%), 74 received a C (6%), and 26 received an F (2%).
FIRST ratings are determined using 21 financial indicators. These include administrative cost expenditures, accuracy of submitted financial information, and identification of any vulnerabilities or weaknesses in internal controls as identified by external auditors. There are also four critical indicators that can result in an automatic F rating if a school system fails in any one category.
Charter schools operated by public institutions of higher education are rated separately using seven indicators and can receive either a Pass or Fail rating. For this cycle, all five such charter schools earned a Pass.
"All Texas public school systems are required to share their financial accountability ratings with parents and taxpayers at a public meeting to discuss the financial report," according to TEA.
For more details on FIRST ratings and to view the final results for independent school districts or charter schools, interested parties can visit TEA's web pages dedicated to these reports.
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