JoeCiulla
08-03-2009, 12:45 PM
I wonder if Judge Manning or Stan would refer to this as "academic genocide." We have students in schools which are failing, and they are not being granted the transfer privileges required by Federal law....
http://www.newsobserver.com/news/story/1631712.html
State and federal education officials say the Wake school system ignores the intent of federal No Child Left Behind requirements by making parents reapply for transfers after pulling their children from high-poverty schools that fail to hit the statute's academic goals.
Rather than leave transfer students in their new elementary school until they finish its highest grade, as the federal law requires, Wake reassigns them to their old school and asks their parents to again request a transfer.
Moreover, Wake doesn't send parents notice of where they can transfer their children until after year-round schools start and some students are already attending class at their old school. This forces parents to make a tough choice: Keep their children in an academically challenged school or yank them out again after classes have started.
BY THE NUMBERS
The federal No Child Left Behind law requires school districts to offer parents the option of transferring their children from high-poverty schools that fail to meet the statute's academic benchmarks for two consecutive years. The option applies only to Title I schools that receive federal money because they have a high-percentage of low-income students.
• Last year, the parents of 262 students at Title I schools exercised their transfer option in Wake County.
• During that same year, 14 of the 40 Wake Title I schools had to provide parents the transfer option.
• Currently, 15 Title I elementary schools must offer transfer options to students.
Federal officials say the intent of the federal statute and related guidelines is to prevent this kind of bureaucratic burden on students and parents who choose to exercise one of the prime provisions of the No Child law. Last year, the parents of 262 Wake elementary students exercised the law's option to pull their children from high-poverty schools that failed to meet "adequate yearly progress" benchmarks for two years in a row. The students were transferred to a different school designated by the district, one that did not face the law's sanctions.
"The requirement is in place not only to ensure that a student does not have to transfer back to their home school temporarily but also to guarantee that a student can complete the highest grade in their school of choice, without being transferred back and forth between home school and transfer school over the years," said Elaine Quesinberry, spokeswoman for the U.S. Department of Education.
A state education official who specializes in the requirements of the No Child Left Behind law agrees.
"The intent of the law is to notify parents as soon as possible to assure them the attendance to the highest grade possible," said Charlotte Duren of the state Department of Public Instruction. "There is nothing in the statute about a default back to the original school."
Wake school administrators defend their actions and say they are meeting the transfer requirements of the No Child Left Behind law. They say the law's transfer option places conflicting transportation demands on the state's largest school district.
On the one hand, they have to provide transportation to transfer students. But the law also says the district doesn't have to continue busing transfer students to their new schools if their original school meets No Child mandates for two consecutive years.
However, Wake has unwittingly provided transportation in the past when it didn't have to, said Chuck Dulaney, assistant superintendent for growth and planning. To avoid such mistakes, Wake decided to reassign students to their old schools before providing them their transportation and No Child transfer options for the coming year, Dulaney said.
"We assign students back because we don't know whether they'll get transportation or not," he said. "When we know whether or not we can provide transportation, we move forward with No Child Left Behind options."
But forcing parents to renew their transfer requests each year discourages them from exercising that right, said Terry Stoops, education policy analyst for the John Locke Foundation, a Raleigh-based conservative think tank.
"Wake County has a history of ignoring requests by parents to send their child to a school that's best for them," Stoops said. "It's all part of the school system learning how to game the system and ultimately find ways to violate No Child Left Behind without consequence."
ray.martin@newsobserver.com or 919-836-4952
http://www.newsobserver.com/news/story/1631712.html
State and federal education officials say the Wake school system ignores the intent of federal No Child Left Behind requirements by making parents reapply for transfers after pulling their children from high-poverty schools that fail to hit the statute's academic goals.
Rather than leave transfer students in their new elementary school until they finish its highest grade, as the federal law requires, Wake reassigns them to their old school and asks their parents to again request a transfer.
Moreover, Wake doesn't send parents notice of where they can transfer their children until after year-round schools start and some students are already attending class at their old school. This forces parents to make a tough choice: Keep their children in an academically challenged school or yank them out again after classes have started.
BY THE NUMBERS
The federal No Child Left Behind law requires school districts to offer parents the option of transferring their children from high-poverty schools that fail to meet the statute's academic benchmarks for two consecutive years. The option applies only to Title I schools that receive federal money because they have a high-percentage of low-income students.
• Last year, the parents of 262 students at Title I schools exercised their transfer option in Wake County.
• During that same year, 14 of the 40 Wake Title I schools had to provide parents the transfer option.
• Currently, 15 Title I elementary schools must offer transfer options to students.
Federal officials say the intent of the federal statute and related guidelines is to prevent this kind of bureaucratic burden on students and parents who choose to exercise one of the prime provisions of the No Child law. Last year, the parents of 262 Wake elementary students exercised the law's option to pull their children from high-poverty schools that failed to meet "adequate yearly progress" benchmarks for two years in a row. The students were transferred to a different school designated by the district, one that did not face the law's sanctions.
"The requirement is in place not only to ensure that a student does not have to transfer back to their home school temporarily but also to guarantee that a student can complete the highest grade in their school of choice, without being transferred back and forth between home school and transfer school over the years," said Elaine Quesinberry, spokeswoman for the U.S. Department of Education.
A state education official who specializes in the requirements of the No Child Left Behind law agrees.
"The intent of the law is to notify parents as soon as possible to assure them the attendance to the highest grade possible," said Charlotte Duren of the state Department of Public Instruction. "There is nothing in the statute about a default back to the original school."
Wake school administrators defend their actions and say they are meeting the transfer requirements of the No Child Left Behind law. They say the law's transfer option places conflicting transportation demands on the state's largest school district.
On the one hand, they have to provide transportation to transfer students. But the law also says the district doesn't have to continue busing transfer students to their new schools if their original school meets No Child mandates for two consecutive years.
However, Wake has unwittingly provided transportation in the past when it didn't have to, said Chuck Dulaney, assistant superintendent for growth and planning. To avoid such mistakes, Wake decided to reassign students to their old schools before providing them their transportation and No Child transfer options for the coming year, Dulaney said.
"We assign students back because we don't know whether they'll get transportation or not," he said. "When we know whether or not we can provide transportation, we move forward with No Child Left Behind options."
But forcing parents to renew their transfer requests each year discourages them from exercising that right, said Terry Stoops, education policy analyst for the John Locke Foundation, a Raleigh-based conservative think tank.
"Wake County has a history of ignoring requests by parents to send their child to a school that's best for them," Stoops said. "It's all part of the school system learning how to game the system and ultimately find ways to violate No Child Left Behind without consequence."
ray.martin@newsobserver.com or 919-836-4952