Public schools get bad grades

As the D.C. public school system struggles with security and administrative problems, a new federal report card finds most of the city’s schools are failing in the classroom.

The first report cards required by the federal No Child Left Behind Act show 83 of the 151 D.C. schools tested failed to meet national standards in reading, math or both in the 2002-2003 school year.

The No Child Left Behind Act requires all students, regardless of background, to perform well on the tests.

The failure is particularly pronounced in higher grades. Only 11 of 50 secondary schools met federal standards in reading and seven of those schools passed the requirements for math.

“We are obviously disappointed,” Interim Superintendent Elfreda W. Massie said.

Under the No Child Left Behind Act, schools must allow students to transfer elsewhere if they fail to make adequate yearly progress for two consecutive years. Parents in those schools also can chose other options such as after-school tutoring.

An existing D.C. program allows students at 15 public schools to leave their underperforming schools — and about 300 students in the city have decided to transfer.

The number of D.C. schools required to offer transfers this fall won’t be known until results from the current school year are analyzed this summer. If the results are similar to those from the year before, five times as many schools could be forced to offer transfers, affecting more than 1,000 students.

Assistant Superintendent Bill Caritj said parents will be notified the first week of August if their child has the option to transfer — just a few weeks before school starts.

“Yes, we are concerned about being ready,” he said, “but we don’t expect a massive exodus.”

In explaining the test results yesterday, D.C. school officials said many schools were penalized because they had attendance problems and tested fewer than 95 percent of their students.

If a student didn’t take the test, the school received a score of zero for that student, which officials say greatly affected many of the final report cards.

The federal report cards come at a trying time for the city’s school system. In February, the fatal shooting of a student at Ballou High School prompted an emergency security plan from the District’s police chief.

Meanwhile, the school district has been searching for a permanent leader since Superintendent Paul L. Vance abruptly resigned in November. Miss Massie, his replacement, is to leave this month.