411 school districts in 27 states failing to meet NCLB accountability standards
At Las Palmitas Elementary School in Southern California, 99% of students live in poverty and fewer than 20% speak English fluently. Las Palmitas and other schools in the Coachella Valley Unified School District are just the type policymakers had in mind when Congress passed the federal No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB) in 2001 to shed light on the disparities facing poor and minority children. Nineteen of the district's 21 schools—including Las Palmitas—have not met the federal law's performance benchmarks for four years. Now the entire district faces sanctions for the first time. "We have hardworking, dedicated, trained teachers like everybody else. They've got to teach a language, they've got to teach the content, and they've got to counter poverty," said Foch "Tut" Pensis, the district's superintendent. "We are the poster child for NCLB." California has 97 school districts that failed to meet their goals under the law for four years, more than twice as many failing districts as any other state so far. Kentucky has the next highest number facing sanctions, with 47.
Nationwide, 411 school districts in 27 states now face intervention. California has ordered districts to undergo everything from reporting how they are implementing the federal law to having a team of specialists assess every aspect of their operations. In the most extreme cases, California districts could be subject to a state takeover. How California and the other states will turn around those struggling districts is unclear. "No one, on a large scale, has figured out how to solve the achievement gap," Pensis said. If they need better teachers and administrators, it's not apparent where they will come from. Some federal money is available, but it's unlikely it will be enough to cover all the failing districts. Many states already are losing revenue due to the sliding economy. California's budget deficit for the fiscal year that begins this summer is projected to be anywhere from $15 billion to $20 billion.
U.S. Education Secretary Margaret Spellings says California is taking the right steps. It is the first state to take widespread action against all its districts that have failed to meet the achievement target set by NCLB. Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and the state's elected Superintendent of Public Instruction, Jack O'Connell, proposed the sliding scale of punishment for the 97 districts—which are responsible for educating nearly a third of California's 6.3 million students. Their approach reserves severe measures, such as replacing administrators or a takeover by the state, for districts that have shown the least improvement. By taking action now, California can collect $45 million from the federal government. The districts facing the most severe sanctions each will receive $250,000 in federal money to pay for intervention teams and to start following their suggestions.
Source: USA Today, 5/12/08, By Juliet Williams (Associated Press)
[Editor’s Note: For background on the stalled reauthorization process and proposed administrative changes to NCLB, see below.]
NSBA School Law pages on proposed NCLB regulations