Well... if ya do the math<br>or read into the secrecy, I mean circuitry of...<br>'no child left behind'<br>database made available to recruiters<br>if not the school is fined 10grand<br><br>read on:<br><br>Gov. Bush puts millions at risk with tough school standards<br>By Vicki McClure Orlando<br> Posted March 28 2005 <br>Florida cities and counties could lose millions of dollars in federal grant money for sidewalks, health clinics and other improvements if Gov. Jeb Bush and state education officials adhere to strict rules that are making it hard for schools to score well on federal math and reading standards.<br>President Bush is proposing to give a share of $3.71 billion in federal economic assistance only to communities that can meet certain criteria, such as having schools that are making the academic progress required by his No Child Left Behind law.<br>Florida received $189 million last year in federal community development block grants, one of 18 programs the president hopes to consolidate into a master fund to be administered by the U.S. Department of Commerce.<br>Only two Florida counties -- Leon and Wakulla -- and 23 percent of schools statewide met No Child Left Behind standards last year. That count is expected to go down when the state raises the academic bar this spring.<br>School performance would be a factor in distributing a portion of the money to communities that demonstrate "readiness for development" if Congress adopts the president's proposal. "This would be a bonus or reward for those communities making progress that make a healthy community and economic development possible," said Sandy Baruah, an administrator for the Commerce Department.<br>Florida's standards for success under No Child Left Behind are among the toughest in the nation [color:red]http://www.askasia.org/teachers/Instructional_Resources/Materials/Readings/Japan/R_japan_36.htm</font color=red>, nonpartisan education experts agree, making it hard for schools to show adequate progress year to year in reading and math.By contrast, two-thirds of the state's public schools earned an A or a B last year under the state's own grading system, the A-Plus Plan championed by Gov. Bush.Florida has the power to amend its standards and probably improve its performance under No Child Left Behind. States have until April 1 to submit revised standards to the U.S. Department of Education for them to be applied to student test scores for the current school year.However, state Education Commissioner John L. Winn said Friday that the state intends to mostly hold the line."Florida is committed to maintaining the high standards we set before [No Child Left Behind] and is not asking the U.S. Department of Education to lower standards, but instead asking them to look at alternatives in their calculations such as including learning gains," Winn said in a prepared statement. He declined through a spokeswoman to be interviewed.Many Florida communities could be hit with a double whammy because the president's grant proposal also cuts 30 percent of the federal aid dispersed by such programs as community development block grants.That money has paid for a plethora of improvements throughout Central Florida. Orlando will spend about $2.5 million in federal block grants this year on projects including paving sidewalks and installing street lights in low-income areas, said Lelia Allen, the city's housing director. Some of the money is also distributed to community groups who work with struggling residents, she said. Allen said it does not make sense to link the amount of grant money a community receives to its school performance. After all, the work that money pays for, such as improving neighborhood safety, helps children do better in school, she said. "I couldn't see where it [the funding change] would help in providing a better future for those children," Allen said. "I really would not understand the logic behind it."No Child Left Behind requires that all students nationwide be proficient in math and reading by 2014. Schools must show adequate yearly progress toward meeting this goal not only for students in general, but also for children grouped by income, race, ethnicity, disability and English fluency.If just one group of students misses a performance target, either in mathematics or reading, then a school is classified as not making adequate progress. This year, Florida's goal is 53 percent of students doing math at grade level and 48 percent of them reading at grade level, even for children with disabilities and those who do not speak English fluently. Seminole County, considered one of the best school systems in the region, missed making adequate progress by 1 percent last year. Only 37 percent of its disabled students could do math at grade level, shy of the 38 percent target for the 2003-04 school year.<br>Jason Garcia of the Sentinel staff contributed to this report.<br><br>Vicki McClure can be reached at 352-742-5928 or vmcclure @orlandosentinel.com.<br><br>Watch yer bax, failures are fatal...<br>45%=F<br><br>Be real,<br>be a graphical journalist!<br>Constant influence is the only truth, incase ya have'nt noticed.<br><br>?<br><br>

Dumb kids make for easy brainwashing later and for even better soldiers. Keep the ants running dumb and you will have a great ant farm. Make them smart and it will be harder to keep them from escaping.<br><br>_________________________________________<br>Just a different kinda geek...

It's a perfectly despicable formula for simultaneously damaging the equalizer of public schooling and shuttling more money into the Governor's voting base. Nationwide, every state has expressed trouble with meeting the new national standards. Now, the state of Florida can use the predictable under-performance of underfunded schools in poor areas to deprave the community of needed support.<br><br>While they preach, they can watch those same communities crumble. Doesn't matter though, poor people don't vote for Governor Bush.<br><br>-- Charlie Alpha Roger Yankee Whiskey<br>

Excuse me for stating the bleeding obvious, but isn't "No Child Left Behind requires that all students nationwide be proficient in math and reading by 2014." what our eductation establishments are supposed to be doing? I don't care about 2014. Kids should be proficient in math and reading today!!<br><br>

Like the 'highly educated' (no pun intended) Rasta reggae man says<br><br>'whooaaaoohhh, whoaaaaa'<br><br>

Don't know about you, but I live in Lake Woebegone. Here we pass the NCLB test, because every child is above average.<br><br>