Teachers and community members from Richmond High, Kennedy High, Adams Middle, DeJean Middle as well as school board candidate Karen Pfeiffer discussed the need to inform the public about the ramifications of NCLB and to organize against it.

The following 10 schools have been designated "Year 4 Program Improvement (PI) Schools":
 

According to the California State Department of Education Web site, "PI is a formal designation for Title I-funded schools and LEAs* that do not make AYP** for two consecutive years. A Title I*** school becomes PI if it does not make AYP for two consecutive years on the same indicator (English-language arts and mathematics, Academic Performance Index**** (API), or graduation rate). A school is eligible to exit PI status once it makes AYP for two consecutive years." Identification of LEAs and Schools for PI

* LEA - Local Educational Agency, i.e. the school administration at a county or district level

**AYP or Adequate Yearly Progress is the Federal performance requirement for each school including all student sub-groups (economic groups, ethnic groups, English language learners, Special Education students)

*** Title I is a Federal program that "provides assistance to improve the teaching and learning of children in high-poverty schools to enable those children to meet challenging State academic content and performance standards." From the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA)

**** API is the State performance requirement

The NCLB Program Improvement (PI) School Requirements state that during Year 4, the LEA and the PI school must "prepare [a] plan for alternative governance of [the] school." This plan is to be implemented the following year, should the school not reach AYP targets.

The plan must select one of the following:

· Reopen school as a charter
· Replace all or most staff including principal
· Contract with outside entity to manage school
· State takeover
· Any other major restructuring 

According to Superintendent Gloria Johnston, she is responsible for presenting a plan to the School Board. The NCLB Program Improvement (PI) School Requirements for Year 4 state that the "LEA provides notice to parents and teachers and allows comment." 

Superintendent Johnston has indicated that she wants to take over the schools directly herself. This, after admitting to the Adams staff in September that she didn't understand the consequences of NCLB for Year 4 PI schools last year.

Who's next? Seven more schools are in Year 2 PI:

And four are in Year 1 PI:

That's 22 or one-third of the district's 65 schools.

We - parents, teachers, community - must make sure we are part of any restructuring of our schools!

March 4 Education and Richmond Federation of Teachers Members-at-Large held a forum on December 7 called "The Realities of 'No Child Left Behind' And What You Can Do About It" to discuss how parents, teachers and the community can organize against state or corporate take-overs or "restructuring" of our schools. Please check back here for further information and activities.

For further information contact Diane Brown, President of RFT Members-At-Large, at 510.501.7347.

Below are some resources to learn more about NCLB and about people organizing across the country to resist it:

March 4 Education/Richmond Federation of Teachers NCLB flyer: Click here

For more information, contact Diane Brown 510.501.7347
To add links to this page, contact the Webmaster HuldaNystrom@sbcglobal.net