No Child Left Behind--All schools will fail under NCLB

VUSD schools have been pilloried by our ANTI public education friends for having 'failing schools' but as we all know NCLB is written so all school will eventually fail. Every category of student must become above average by 2014. Impossible of course because as the students improve the average increases. Today in North County Times a reporter wrote an article about high performing high wealth schools in San Diego County counted as 'failing' by the weird Lake Wobegon standards of NCLB. Note that ONLY low wealth schools are penalized under No Child Left Behind. High wealth districts may 'fail' but there are NO PENALTIES for HIGH WEALTH districts. What? Yes that is right. Under NCLB--no matter how badly a high wealth district does on the standardized tests, there are ABSOLUTELY NO PENALTIES ON HIGH WEALTH SCHOOL DISTRICTS for failure.

Here are some quotes from the article:

This year, several highly regarded schools in wealthier districts such as Poway Unified, Carlsbad Unified and Encinitas Union missed the federal benchmarks.

The paradox is becoming more common because, even as test scores rise, so do federal goals. By 2014, 100 percent of students in public schools will be required to pass the tests ---- a target that educators say every school in the country is likely to miss.
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"Every year, you're going to see more schools not meeting those benchmarks, and in somebody's eyes, be seen as failing," said Tim Baird, superintendent of Encinitas Union School District.
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if enough students in various categories across a district fail to meet federal targets, the entire district falls short.
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The federal system doesn't factor in growth. Instead, schools and districts must have a certain percentage of students in every category ---- again, ranging from special education to various ethnic and socioeconomic groups ---- passing the tests.
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they're setting the stage for all public schools and all districts to look like they're failing
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Having all students at grade level is a noble goal, but statistically impossible, said John Roach, superintendent of Carlsbad Unified School District.
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Even critics who support more accountability in public education say the targets set by No Child Left Behind may be unrealistic.

Matthew Ladner, vice president of research at the Goldwater Institute, an independent government watchdog group whose work has informed several bipartisan school choice reforms, called the goal of getting all students to grade level by 2014 "utopian."
"One way or another, we were never going to get to that," he said.
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Though bringing all students up to grade level may be unachievable, it's difficult for educators to ask for anything less, Bennett-Schmidt said.

"It's very hard for any of us to say, 'We don't want 100 percent of our kids to be proficient,'" she said.
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there are few real consequences for high-performing schools in wealthier districts that fail to meet federal targets.
Only so-called Title 1 schools, which receive federal money for low-income students, can be hit with federal sanctions for repeatedly failing to meet benchmarks.
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Here is the URL and the headline and the first paragraphs of the article:

http://www.nctimes.com/news/local/oceanside/article_afd0f06b-503f-5be5-a67e-ff8102e1dcf9.html

REGIONAL: Some schools surpass, fail standards simultaneously

Increasing expectations mean more high-performing schools miss targets
STACY BRANDT - sbrandt@nctimes.com Posted: Saturday, October 3, 2009 7:20 pm
Sunset Hills Elementary School in upscale Rancho Penasquitos has a state "Distinguished School" award under its belt and standardized test scores that would be the envy of most North County educators.

Still, by federal standards, the school is falling short.