The future of Texas’ largest teacher preparation program in limbo after court ruling

The future of an embattled teacher preparation company — which enrolls more educator candidates than any other program in Texas — will remain in limbo after a Travis County judge threw a curveball in the state’s plans.

Texas Teachers of Tomorrow — also known as A+ Texas Teachers — is under scrutiny after failing to prove to state education officials that they had corrected long-standing operational problems.

The Texas Education Agency recommended last year revoking the company’s accreditation, citing its failure to meet the conditions of an improvement plan. If their accreditation is yanked, the company would not be able to produce certified teachers.

Before state officials can vote on the company’s future, both sides must present arguments before a judge in the State Office of Administrative Hearings. But now, that next step is stalled.

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In May, a Travis County district judge ruled in favor of Texas Teachers of Tomorrow, granting the company’s request for a temporary injunction. The decision stops state education officials from moving forward with their case.

TEA spokesman Jake Kobersky said officials can’t comment on ongoing litigation, but the state plans to appeal the ruling.

Teachers of Tomorrow CEO Trent Beekman said the company was pleased with the judge’s decision.

“Teachers of Tomorrow has maintained the highest level of regulatory compliance, cooperation, and adherence to the process for contesting the TEA’s review findings,” he said in a statement.

Company leaders are arguing the state unlawfully held them to “invented, invalid, and inapplicable standards” during the review process.

The company’s “entire business is at stake” should the state bring a case to the State Office of Administrative Hearings, according to court documents.

The fight over Texas Teachers of Tomorrow comes as the schools face an ongoing educator shortage. The company enrolls more teacher candidates than any other program in the state.

It presents people with an alternative pathway to the classroom, targeting those who didn’t necessarily go to college with the intent to become teachers. The for-profit program recruits many people in search of a second career and trains them through primarily online coursework.

But state auditors repeatedly found the company fell short of standards. It misled potential teachers with its advertising, did not support candidates with required mentors and failed to demonstrate that its training was based in research, according to a 2021 state report.

It was also the subject of an excessive number of complaints from teacher candidates, some of whom left the profession in frustration after receiving bad advice from company officials.

Path to legal action

After the scathing 2021 audit, the State Board for Educator Certification placed Texas Teachers of Tomorrow on probation. The board then appointed a monitor to analyze operations and ensure the company hit various benchmarks.

After several months, monitor Calvin Stocker found Texas Teachers of Tomorrow fell short in multiple categories.

For example, TEA staff identified 350 candidates going through the program and sought evidence that they had sufficient field-based experience. But the company only “provided sufficient evidence” for 79% of the sampled candidates. It needed to hit a 90% threshold, according to the agreement between the state and company.

TEA staff also noted that the company did not prove that all candidates spent enough hours observing classroom settings as part of their training.

And while the TEA determined that the company provided evidence that the vast majority of sampled candidates were assigned a mentor, Texas Teachers of Tomorrow could not prove that enough of those mentors were trained or qualified for that role.

The company was also the subject of 19 formal complaints last school year, more than all other educator prep programs. The complaints were related to processing issues, nonresponsiveness and lack of support.

In its court filings, Texas Teachers of Tomorrow officials argue that Stocker’s analysis included fundamental errors. The company hired an education consultancy firm to conduct its own review, which found the program was compliant with state requirements.

Since the troubling audit, new leadership took over the Teachers of Tomorrow. Officials invested more than $6 million to upgrade its program, according to a statement.

Leaders there say they remain committed to working with state officials to combat the teacher shortage crisis and adhere to rigorous standards.

The final decision to revoke the company’s accreditation would lie with the State Board for Educator Certification.

For now, the company remains on probation. That means potential educators can continue moving through the program as planned.

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