12 million languish in failing public schools, report says

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More than 12 million children are stuck in low-performing public schools nationally as the new academic year gets under way.

For the second consecutive year, nearly half the public schools in the District failed to make "adequate yearly progress" under provisions of the No Child Left Behind (NCLB) law.

School districts in just 19 states, including Maryland and Virginia, gave parents complete report cards about school performance in their communities, as required by accountability provisions of the two-year-old NCLB, according to the Education Commission of the States (ECS).

Thirty-one states and the District provided only partial reports.

As the nation's 48.5 million schoolchildren began returning for the 2004-05 academic year, federal education officials say state reports show that at least 24,000 public schools -- a quarter of the 96,500 nationwide -- failed to meet "adequate yearly progress" (AYP) last year, based on student reading, mathematics test results and other factors.

Those schools predominantly served minority and economically disadvantaged students.

The NCLB's goal is to have every child reading proficiently and doing math at grade level by 2014. Yearly progress under state plans, in return for federal funds, is required to reach that goal and eliminate the wide achievement gap between white students and some minorities.

The gap between white and black students in the District is 70 points on standardized tests -- meaning that the average white student in the city's public schools scores a full year ahead of the average black student in the same grade.

Schools that fail to meet AYP for two consecutive years are listed as being "in need of improvement" and receive additional federal funds for supplemental tutoring, transportation of students to other schools, and other remedial services to help get off the probation list.

Schools that persist beyond three years in failing their state's AYP targets can be taken over by the state, restructured or closed.