NCLB allows Florida students to escape struggling schools
The No Child Left Behind Act has allowed some Broward County, Florida students to escape schools that are struggling because of low test scores, causing these campuses to suffer further under the federal law meant to improve public education, educators say. Those students with the lowest reading and math scores are getting left behind because the law gives students at underperforming schools the choice of going elsewhere, the Broward School District has reported. The brain drain has occurred at about 60 schools, where many of the brightest students have transferred out, taking with them federal money used to educated poor students. "This is the crux of the problem," U.S. Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz, D-Weston, said in a roomful of parents, teachers, principals, and district administrators. "It drains the brains and the life and the heart of the struggling schools, who need all of the resources sent their way. But we do the opposite." The federal government uses results from the Florida Comprehensive Assessment Test to judge schools on how well specific groups of students are doing—the poor, minorities, students with disabilities, and those still learning English. If any one of those groups fails to make "adequate yearly progress" (AYP), the entire school is tagged as failing. Any school that doesn't meet that mark three years in a row and accepts federal money for poor students must give students the option of receiving private tutoring or going to a higher-performing public school. About 3,000 students transferred schools this year and hundreds signed up for tutoring. But because more than 30,000 were eligible, the district was forced to set aside 20% of the $60 million in federal funds it uses for such things as after-school programs, to pay for the private lessons and bus rides to school. Many parents did not understand that they were hurting their neighborhood school by transferring their children to another campus, said School Board member Ben Williams, who has in his district many of Broward's so-called "Title I" schools, where more than 50% of the students are poor. Some parents who keep their children in their community schools are somewhat resentful that more is not being done to improve their schools, said Williams and Vera Ginn, the district's director of Title I programs.
South Florida Sun-Sentinel By Akilah Johnson
[Editor’s Note: Given the underfunding of NCLB, NSBA has recommended that the act be amended to focus limited resources on children with the greatest academic need, by limiting eligibility for school choice and supplemental educational services to those who belong to sub-groups failing to make AYP and who are themselves failing to reach proficiency. For details, see the first link. In its discussion draft of the NCLB reauthorization measure, the House education committee failed to adopt this recommendation. An analysis of the House discussion draft by NSBA Director of Advocacy Michael A. Resnick is included at the second link. Past coverage of NCLB reauthorization and a side-by-side comparison of current law, NSBA’s recommendations, and the House discussion draft is available at the third link.]
NSBA "Why Report" on aligning intervention with need
NSBA Federal Action Alert on NCLB reauthorization
NSBA School Law pages on NCLB reauthorization prospects