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More schools missing No Child mark

By ASSOCIATED PRESS
Published May 10, 2006

WASHINGTON - Falling short of requirements under President Bush's education law, about 1,750 U.S. schools have been ordered into radical "restructuring," subject to firings, closure, state takeover or other moves to wipe their slates clean.

Many are finding resolutions short of such drastic measures. But the number of schools in trouble under the No Child Left Behind law is rising - up 44 percent over the past year - and is expected to swell by thousands in the next few years.

Schools make the list by falling short in math or reading for at least five straight years.

In perspective, the total is just 3 percent of about 53,000 schools that get federal poverty aid and face penalties under the No Child Left Behind law.

"It's just a matter of time before we see upward of 10,000 schools in restructuring," said Michael Petrilli, a former enforcement official at the Education Department.

The Associated Press reported last month that schools were deliberately not counting the test scores of nearly 2-million students, mostly minorities, when they measure progress.

Those exclusions have made it easier for schools to meet their yearly goals.

Still, more than a quarter of the nation's schools have failed to make adequate yearly progress for at least one year.

Many will keep moving along the law's penalty timeline. A district must choose an overhaul plan for a school by year five, then act on it in year six.

Seven states - California, Georgia, Illinois, Michigan, New Jersey, New York and Pennsylvania - account for almost 70 percent of all schools ordered to restructure.

Florida is among eight states and the District of Columbia that have no schools listed in critical trouble.

[Last modified May 10, 2006, 06:58:58]