California district risks federal funding over state law
Lagunitas School District has decided to follow a California law that allows parents to opt their children out of standardized testing, even though the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB) requires most of the district to take such tests in order to qualify for Title I federal funds, according to a report in the Point Reyes Light. Although the amount of the district’s Title I funding is relatively small, its decision to openly defy NCLB’s testing mandate could have nationwide implications. “I don't know of any other example like this where any district is saying, ‘I will only choose to follow state law and not federal law,’” said Maria Reyes, administrator of the Title I Policy and Accountability Office for the California Department of Education. Lagunitas trustees say the district's small size—only 256 students were registered for 2006-07—means even one student absent from testing could make several percentage points' difference. “We do not have 95 percent participation and we never will,” trustee Richard Sloan said. Despite having not reached that benchmark, the district has continually received Title I money with little or no reprimand. Last year it received about $40,000 from Title I, which represents only about 1.2% of its total budget. But trustees insist that because the Title I program has been available since 1965, their students are entitled to that money. “The legislation that put in place Title I funds is different from No Child Left Behind, so they attached that legislation to those dollars,” said trustee Susi Giacomini. “Those were funds that were coming to our district that were serving the needs of our kids.”
Now, however, trustees may have to deal with penalties from the state. Because of district parents' longstanding aversion to standardized testing, Lagunitas is considered to be in year three of Program Improvement. In a letter sent last week to the California Department of Education (CDE), the district argued, “It is clear, from our perspective, that the current conflict between California State Law and federal regulations regarding the Title I program needs to be resolved by appropriate state and federal officials. Until a resolution is reached, school districts, and more importantly the children they serve, should not have to suffer sanctions, corrective actions or state imposed solutions for improving student achievement.” CDE says NCLB leaves little room for protest. “If that's the decision and they don't want to abide by the federal program their choice is not to participate in the program," Ms. Reyes said. "Once you agree to participate and receive funds you essentially are assuring that you will follow the rules of that program.” Berkeley Law professor Goodwin Liu agreed that the legality of the issue, at least on the federal level, is clear—to get Title I funding, standardized testing prerequisites must be met.
Lagunitas is a district known for its somewhat alternative bent, and several Lagunitas trustees said they consider standardized testing itself as anathema. For the past several years debate has echoed through the district on whether or not to apply at all for Title I funds. Some, like trustee Stephanie O'Brien, argued that the district would provide services for underprivileged students with or without the federal money. Ultimately, the attitude prevailed if the government is going to give Title I money regardless of compliance No Child Left Behind, why not take it. “We are being very honest, we are being very direct, but in the reality of the federal government, they don't even know that we're alive,” said Ms. O’Brien. “We're just a blip on the radar screen so they're going to go ahead and process these checks.”
Source: Point Reyes Light, 6/26/08, By Clark Merrefield