Oregon schools turn down federal aid for students behind in reading and math
At least 25 Oregon schools whose students are behind in reading and math have turned down federal aid intended to help those students learn more, an analysis by The Oregonian has found. Not taking the money—typically $200,000 a year—allows a school to dodge consequences and pressure to improve brought by the federal No Child Left Behind law (NCLB). As a result, students in those schools don't get free tutoring and don't have the extra teachers and teacher training that federal money would buy. Parents don't get letters notifying them of their school's achievement problems and plans to improve, and students lose the opportunity to transfer to a better-performing school. Nationwide, more than 2,500 schools—including 80 in Oregon—have been put on the federal must-improve list. To get off it, schools are supposed to raise achievement and hit all performance targets for two years straight. To help them, they get an extra dose of federal money to speed their improvement. But in Oregon, more schools have gotten off the troubled schools list after turning down federal money than by raising reading and math scores. That translates into less help for students in real academic need, says Steve Olczak, interim principal at Portland's Benson High, which lost $300,000 in federal funding this year.
Schools that turned aside federal money are in every part of the state. But all serve middle or high school students—making it harder for those schools than elementary schools to meet federal standards. Most of the federal money that would have gone to those schools instead is shared among high-poverty elementary schools in the same school district. The districts also forfeit additional federal money set aside for schools on the troubled list. In Portland, for example, the school board's decision to discontinue federal funding for Madison, Benson and Franklin high schools this fall means Madison lost roughly $200,000 a year it had received for years. That forced the school to scale back teacher training. Officials in Portland and other school districts deny that they stopped distributing federal aid to their middle or high schools to escape the consequences of NCLB. "Getting the foundation skills in the elementary schools will help our students to achieve higher in junior high and high school," says Leigh Ann Arthur, curriculum director in Klamath Falls City Schools, which cut federal funds to its junior high and high schools. She and others point out that most Oregon school districts give their federal aid for disadvantaged students, known as Title I funds, only to their elementary schools.
Principals at Oregon middle and high schools that continue to accept federal funds—and the stiff requirements that come with them—say the extra money has been key in getting test scores to new heights. Since 2002, 18 schools have undergone intensive teacher retraining and zeroed in on new skills to pull student achievement up to the federally required level. Twenty-three others remain on the federal list, despite past efforts to get off. All are getting extra money to help them improve achievement. All are offered a veteran educator to coach and support the principal and faculty to improve. Most are making notable progress. Dropping federal funds is legal, except at schools where more than three-fourths of the students qualify for subsidized school lunches. Oregon districts all comply with that rule. State superintendent Susan Castillo was visibly angered when told that schools commonly drop funding just in time to dodge the consequences. "I hate to see any school not take Title I money if they are eligible for it, because those kids need it," she says.
Oregonian Betsy Hammond & Lisa Grace Lednicer
[Editor’s Note: In contrast, a recent report found school improvement interventions under NCLB in Maryland have been ineffective so far. See below.]
NSBA School Law pages on Maryland report