U.S. Education Department fines Texas
5/17/05 -- The U.S. Education Department imposed a $444,282 fine on the Texas Education Agency (TEA) April 22 because the agency was late in releasing information to parents about their option to transfer to another school.
Under the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB), schools that fail to make adequate yearly progress (AYP) for two years in a row must allow students the option of transferring to a better-performing public school -- and must advise parents of this option before the start of the school year.
Because the U.S. Education Department “approved Texas’ state AYP plan on July 29, which prompted a massive reprogramming of data, the state was not able to release its school improvement list until Sept. 27,” says a statement from TEA.
TEA required schools to notify parents of the transfer option by Sept. 30, but students went back to school in Texas the week of Aug. 16-20.
TEA has agreed to pay the fine, which amounts to 4 percent of the state’s Title I administrative funds for 2004.
This is just the second time since NCLB was enacted in 2001 that a state has been fined for non-compliance. In 2003, Minnesota was fined $113,000 for failing to test an adequate number of students.
During the past few months, Texas Education Commissioner Shirley Neeley also engaged in a dispute with the U.S. Education Department over the number of students with disabilities permitted to take alternative assessments and have their scores included in districts’ AYP calculations.
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