Many Utah families mull school transfer

Utah families' desire to transfer children out of schools with lackluster test scores waned last year, but an above-average number still think the other school yard's grass is greener.

Both cases buck national trends cited in a General Accounting Office report on the first two years of No Child Left Behind's school choice option.

The report shows 204 Utah students transferred under NCLB in the 2002-03 school year. The following year, 58 transferred.

Nationally, transfers rose by about 85 percent between the first and second year, the report states.

The number of Utah schools that had to offer choice fell from 18 in 2002-03 to just six last school year.

Still, of the students eligible, 2.85 percent chose to transfer — the 11th highest rate in the country, the GAO report shows.

The national average is around 1 percent. Oregon has the highest rate, with 17.4 percent; a handful of states reported none.

The U.S. Department of Education will study reasons behind the numbers.

"It could be that this year, the school made (test score progress). It could be that those that made an effort to go to a (different) school the previous year, didn't find what they were looking for," state associate superintendent Christine Kearl said.

But the numbers pique the curiosity of one school choice advocate.

"The 2.85 percent (transfer rate) is striking because the general perception is, that most people are happy with their public school . . . but it does say even among those who like the public schools, they want more choices," said Royce Van Tassell, Education Excellence Utah executive director. "It's also striking that this 3 percent or so is among those whom most people say would be least engaged in their children's education. These are low income-families in Title I areas."

The 2001 No Child Left Behind Act requires that all students, regardless of ethnicity, income or disability, read and do math on grade level by 2014.

Low-income schools sharing in $12 billion in federal funding face sanctions if they fail to measure up. First, they must offer to transport students to higher-performing schools.

In the first two years of the NCLB, between 10 percent and 12 percent of the nation's 50,000 Title I schools had to offer the choice, the report states. In 2002-03, 19,000 students transferred; the number grew to 31,000 students, or 1 percent of those eligible, last year.

The GAO offered several reasons why, including a lack of information about choices available to them.

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