Education leaders miss No Child deadline

Utah education leaders have yet again missed the deadline to have federal No Child Left Behind report cards released, which has resulted in parents missing their chance to transfer their children to a different school by the first day of classes.

State leaders, however, say it's nearly an impossible deadline to meet.

Under federal education guidelines, parents are granted the option of enrolling their child in a school with higher marks if their neighborhood school is not up to par under federal guidelines.

But Utah families are yet to have those offers before the start of school — something for which the state was marked down in a federal audit last year.

Parents can transfer the students on the school's dime should they choose that option, but they won't see Adequate Yearly Progress reports that indicate if a school has passed or failed to meet requirements until well after school starts.

So if a family opts to transfer a student, they will have to do so after the school year has started.

Under the NCLB, states must have adequate AYP reports available to the public before the school year starts. But Utah has yet to meet the deadline, and some say as it now stands, it would be nearly impossible.

NCLB aims to hold schools accountable for all students to ensure every child is learning. It was designed to highlight areas that need some extra work and pressure teachers to focus on students who have historically lagged behind.

Under the law, all public schoolchildren must be able to read and do math on grade level by 2014.

Movement toward the goal is measured by AYP reports. Schools either must have enough students scoring as proficient or have moved enough students up from the bottom and have 95 percent of students in each student group taking the tests.

If a school fails to do either of the things for two years in a row then they must allow for a transfer option. And the report must be out before school starts so parents can make the decision before schools are in operation.

But Laurie Lacey, former No Child Left Behind specialist at the State Office of Education, said getting the reports out before the beginning of the year is nearly impossible.