State Raises Consequences For Failing Schools

New York State is raising the consequences for schools placed on its failure list, ordering that some be shut down rather than sit on the list.

The failure designation is part of the state's compliance with the federal No Child Left Behind law and is determined by schools' showings on state standardized tests.

In the past, schools placed on the list have faced a sliding scale of consequences that grow the longer they spend on it. Working on their own, districts have closed 60 failing schools since the list was first used in 1998.

This year, working with the districts, the state is shutting down some newly designated failing schools as well as some that were already on the list.

Five New York City schools already on the list are being phased out, and four that would have been placed on it this year are being closed instead.

Six schools, most of them middle schools, are the city's new additions to the state's failing list. But the closures mean that this year's list is the shortest it has ever been for the city — with 32 failing schools, down from 58 in the 2002—2003 school year.

The president of the teachers union, Randi Weingarten, criticized the new measures, saying, "We believe that closing schools should be the last resort, not a first step."

The city's public advocate, Betsy Gotbaum, said schools should be given a chance to make improvements before they are shut down.

A Department of Education spokesman, Andrew Jacob, said the small size of New York City's list demonstrates progress.