The state’s A-F education accountability ratings were released Thursday by the Mississippi Department of Education, and they show that local school districts have some work to do.

Though the Lincoln County School District officially was rated as a B, its true score is a C. Brookhaven’s rating was a D.

The U.S. Department of Education allows districts to retain a higher letter grade it received in 2013-2014 school year if the current rating is lower. Starting with results from the 2015-2016 school year, there will be no such waiver. The idea was to spare schools with low ratings as they transitioned to higher standards of learning.

So why even bother releasing ratings that aren’t necessarily reflective of academic performance? State education officials said they wanted to be transparent as possible. Also, one of the requirements of utilizing the federal waiver was that both scores had to be reported, officials said.

The accountability system places a greater emphasis on student academic growth, particularly the lowest performing 25 percent of students. Students meet growth if their scores improve from one proficiency level to the next, or move sufficiently within the lower proficiency levels.

That makes it difficult for high-performing districts to hold onto A ratings since there’s less room for growth, education officials said.

Brookhaven School District Superintendent Ray Carlock said in an emailed statement that “We are better than this rating — much better — and we look forward to the upcoming school year with great anticipation of all that our students will achieve as they strive to meet their fullest potential.”

We believe Carlock. We don’t doubt that the district is better than a D rating. But unfortunately, the district will be judged by the grade it receives when the next set of results are released. Those results will reflect the 2015-2016 school year.  In Carlock’s case, the next set of results will reflect academic performance that predates him. The same goes for Lincoln County School District Superintendent Mickey Myers. He took office in January, meaning he has yet to lead the district for a full school year.

It won’t be until the following year that we see whether these two leaders have made the changes necessary to push accountability ratings higher. We’re confident they can, and we look forward to seeing those ratings climb.