HISD leaving children behind at alarming rate

Bad news for Houston schools: according to federal ratings, 737 schools across Texas (including 155 in the Houston area) fall short of national standards set by No Child Left Behind. Those numbers are up a whopping 36 percent of last year - but why? HISD's low graduation rate could be to blame. Last year, the district graduated just 67% of students, a little below the national requirement of 70% (which still seems remarkably low to us). Higher requirements for performance on standardized testing may also have factored in.

Across the state, 12 percent of school districts and 9 percent of school failed to meet federal requirements. Seven of those districts (and the 155 previously mentioned schools) are in the Houston area. Some of these schools are in their fourth under-performing year, which means they must take serious corrective action. This may mean personnel changes or lengthening the school year or day. And these problems aren't contained to the inner city. Cy-Fair and Fort Bend ISDs both had schools on the list due to low math scores.

So, what's a district to do? Well, students at 23 failing campuses will be allowed to transfer for the upcoming academic year. Sounds good, but last year, less than 1% of those in Texas eligible to transfer took advantage of the opportunity. Things might change this year, as families will be notified earlier - as in, before school starts - of their transfer eligibility. Low-income students at 170 campuses that have failed to meet federal benchmarks for three consecutive years will be eligible for free tutoring during the school year, another opportunity that few have used in the past.

Those of you who remember that just a few weeks ago, HISD was celebrating a record number of campuses meeting state requirements (including some formerly under-performing schools) might be surprised to hear this. That's another problem: the state and federal requirements don't align very well. Superintendent Abelardo Saavedra addressed this by saying, "It's simply not fair ... It's confusing for parents. It's confusing for educators." Many of the campuses considered unacceptable or under-performing by the federal government were rated "academically acceptable" by the state. Bright side? Well, sort of.