Earlier this week, Houston ISD Superintendent F. Mike Miles released his version of school accountability ratings for all the HISD campuses. These aren’t the official Texas Education Agency ratings, because those have been tied up in litigation for 2 years after the TEA Commissioner Mike Morath changed the ratings formula, and it disproportionately hurt some districts and campuses.

The official formula has not been publicly released by the TEA, but Miles claims that he obtained a copy of the legally questionable formula from the TEA. Miles then had his HISD team run the numbers which he released on Monday.

Since the formula isn’t available to the public, we have no way to verify the numbers that Miles released. We also don’t know how much the formula has changed since last year. Like any good math teacher would say: show your work.

Let’s pretend, for a moment, that the TEA ratings system was just and legal, and the numbers Miles released are accurate.

The School at St. George Place had a respectable improvement from a B- to a B+. 1 point from an A. Give Principal Sean McClish a pat on the back when you see him. It won’t be at St. George though because HISD leadership removed him as principal.

Furr High School and Neff Elementary posted huge improvements from D to a B. You’d think Principal Tammie Moran and Principal Amanda Wingard would receive awards at a banquet, but instead HISD leadership removed them both as principal.

Lantrip Elementary pushed hard and went from a B to an A. Can principal Rhonda Schwer expect a bonus in her next paycheck? No, because HISD leadership removed her as principal.

Sharpstown High School was getting hated on all year but now the scores are in so we know how effective their principal really is. Principal TJ Cotter’s campus received an F rating. Termination-happy HISD leadership probably ran him out of town, right? Principal Cotter is still head principal of Sharpstown HS.

Back to reality. It’s in the court’s hands to decide if this rating system is fair. We don’t know if the numbers Miles present are accurate. We don’t know how changes in the formula over the last two years have affected the ratings.

More importantly, we as a society need to decide if rating schools solely based on a multiple choice test is best. Shouldn’t we factor in a school’s ability to meet students’ social emotional needs? Should we factor in student and parent satisfaction? Should we factor in student to certified teacher ratio?

It’s time to stop taking Miles’ and Moraths’ word as gospel and start pressuring them to answer the tough questions and face consequences for their failings.

Brad Wray is a teacher in HISD who currently serves as an elected member of the District Advisory Committee, and has a child enrolled in HISD.