"Every one of our Title I schools made (adequate yearly progress under NCLB) last year," Graff said. "We feel like we've got a pretty good thing going, and we want to keep supporting that."

But 70 percent of Utah school districts won't have that luxury.

Kane, Tintic, Duchesne, Morgan, Rich, Uintah, Millard, Juab and Garfield are expected to lose 15 percent of their Title I funds. Daggett, South Summit, Emery and South Sanpete would take a 10 to 15 percent hit. San Juan, Wayne, Piute, North Sanpete, Iron, Carbon, Sevier, Tooele, Beaver, North Summit, Box Elder, Park City and Grand will lose between 7 and 10 percent of their Title I funds. And Ogden and Weber will lose about 2 percent of that budget.

Uintah, which has six Title I schools, could eliminate a couple of teachers or three or four aides, essentially shrinking individualized instruction, Sullivan said. Or, it could take one school off Title I status to ease the $168,000 cut.

San Juan's $113,000 Title I cut is viewed as another burden for a district already fallen on tough times.

San Juan, whose budget is one-third federal dollars, has used up state and federal grants for students at risk for entering gangs and academic failure. The district, predominantly American Indian, already has academic and other challenges foreign to most: More than one-third of its students meet the federal definition of homeless, as several have substandard housing with no running water or electricity.

The federal cut is going to smart. Toni Turk, federal programs coordinator, hopes for help in other grant programs.

"We're hoping for some recovery . . . to make this thing continue to work in the triage, the most critical needs being given consideration first," Turk said. "We're in a struggle."

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E-mail: jtcook@desnews.com