LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — Roughly half of Nebraska schools have repeatedly failed to meet proficiency standards under the federal No Child Left Behind Act, but officials say those results are flawed and misleading.
The annual "State of the Schools" report released Friday says 480 Nebraska's 1,011 public schools were designated as in need of improvement. Schools that were labeled as such failed to meet standards for two consecutive years.
Federal sanctions under the law will require some of those schools to offer free tutoring, school choice or take other steps.
Nebraska Education Commissioner Matthew Blomstedt says the standards are unrealistic, and notes that statewide test scores in math, science and reading all improved. Last year, the law's standards required 100 percent student proficiency in math and reading.
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