Federal law begins to show
how schools are performing
Administrators say
new regulations set
an impossible goal
BY LARRY RAMER
Staff Writer

MARLBORO — Although students in the Marlboro K-8 school district met new federal testing standards in 39 out of 40 categories, the district still did not fulfill the rigorous requirements of a new federal education law in the 2002-03 school year, administrators reported to the Board of Education.

Children with disabilities in the district did not meet the requirements of the federal No Child Left Behind Law (NCLB) in the area of mathematics testing, administrators said.

The law now requires that different percentages of students in each of a variety of groups — including students with disabilities; children with limited English ability; pupils from low-income homes; and minorities — pass language arts and math tests, said Tom Nicola, the district’s director of curriculum and instruction.

Under the law, students with disabilities and limited English proficiency are held to the same standards as other students, he told the board.

Nicola said people’s views of the Marlboro school district would not be changed by the testing results.

"Marlboro schools have an excellent reputation and this won’t be tarnished [by] inappropriately stating that the district failed because it did not meet standards in one category out of 40. One of the problems I have [with the law] is that parents of special education students move here because they know we excel in this area and if they see we’re not meeting standards it looks as though we’re not doing a good job, but we know we are," said Nicola.

However, Nicola did say the law will make the district work harder in areas that must be improved under the terms of NCLB.

Superintendent of Schools David Abbott told board members the nation’s public schools were not made to handle the individualized accountability created by the NCLB law, which mandates that every child pass proficiency tests by 2014.

"This law is all about holding educators and boards of education accountable for every student. Often the victims of that strategy are our children," Abbott said.

The law sets unrealistic expectations, the superintendent said.

"The end result of this political deci­sion is that ultimately by 2014 100 per­cent of all the children in America are supposed to be successful in our public schools. That’s impossible and the public school system was never built for that," said Abbott.

He called to the board’s attention the fact that some of the most successful schools in the country have not passed muster under the terms of the new fed­eral law.

If a district or school does not meet the federal standards for several years, vari­ous sanctions will be imposed on the dis­trict, Nicola said. After three consecutive years of failing to meet the standards, districts will be forced to allow students from schools that do not pass to transfer to other schools within the district that have met the federal criteria.

Districts with schools that do not meet the NCLB criteria for four consecutive years must pay for supplemental services for students, including tutoring by ap­proved public or private organizations, Nicola explained.

After five consecutive years of falling short, districts must replace certain staff or implement a new curriculum. Finally, schools that do not measure up for five or more years may face a state takeover or be forced to hire a private management contractor. These schools may also be converted to charter schools, according to the law.