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thing to do.� The first of 10 “titles,� or sections, within the no Child Left Behind Act of 2001, the purpose of Title I, according to the language of the bill, is “to ensure that all children have a fair, equal, and significant opportunity to obtain a highquality education and reach, at a minimum, proficiency on challenging state academic achievement standards and state academic assessments.� However, when crafting the rules governing Title I, legislators made some rather significant oversights — chief among them, according to Goldman, “is that it ties penalties to impossible goals.� Under No Child Left Behind — or NCLB, as it is commonly called — schools that accept Title I funds must meet continually rising proficiency standards, which are measured by state standardized tests, such as California’s STAR exam. By the 2013-14 school year, all Title I schools will be expected
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ent lease payments for a pair of nearly identical vacant lots. For the northern half, the city began receiving $1.2 million a year in 2007. For the southern half, Google paid a $30 million lump sum for a 53-year lease — the equivalent of a $580,000 a year payment on average over the life of the lease. Berns said the council decided to propose the $30 million payment to Google after appraising the land’s value and estimating future increases in lease payments and re-appraisals of the property every 10 years. The numbers didn’t seem far out of whack to Mike Cobb, senior vice president of real estate firm Colliers International. He said the city’s appraisals appeared “pretty darn close� to average. “It was a tough couple years in this market,� Cobb said, adding that prices for this sort of property are “volatile.� Cobb said that if the recent land appraisal favored Google, it could be argued that the 2007 appraisal was equally favorable for the city. Google, which has plenty of cash, accepted the deal because it simply wanted to get the lease “off their books� by paying for it all at once, said Mayor Jac Siegel. And Google would also not have its lease subject to new appraisals of the value of the property every 10 years, as it is in the 2007 lease agreement, Berns said. To the city’s credit, it is now able to invest the $30 million and take an estimated average interest payment of $1 million a year, which is close to the annual payment for the northern 9 acres. That is a “very
to have a proficiency score of 100 percent in all subjects and in all statistically significant sub-groups, or else they will face penalties, such as being classified as a “program improvement� school. To expect that every sub-group within a school — especially traditionally low performing subgroups, such as low-income students and special education students — would be able to consistently attain 100 percent proficiency is unrealistic, Goldman said, noting that just about everyone in the field of public education agrees. “Everybody knew in the long term that it would have to change,� he said. It would seem that Arne Duncan, the U.S. secretary of education, along with the Obama administration, recognize that need for change and are making steps to amend NCLB. In preparing to reauthorize the No Child Left Behind Act, the Department of Education has released an official report explaining how the legislation will be revamped to address criticisms such as Goldman’s. “NCLB has many flaws,� says the report, “A Blueprint for Reform.�
“It provides states with incentives to lower standards. It mislabels schools as failing and imposes one size fits all interventions. It doesn’t do enough to recognize student growth or school progress.� According to Goldman, many schools within his district have been unfairly categorized as failures because of the faulty legislation. Theuerkauf and Monta Loma are in what is known as “program improvement� this year. But that is because low-income, Englishlearners at Theuerkauf and special education students at Monta Loma — all of whom traditionally perform below grade level — did not meet the proficiency standards at those schools. The designation, besides putting the schools at risk of losing out on Title I funds, also has what Goldman called a “segregating effect.� Under the NCLB law, parents have the option of moving their students out of “program improvement� schools to another school within the district. “The families who have chosen to transfer are not typically the ones who are the basis for the program improvement
reasonable way� to make up for the diminished value of the property, Berns said. And “the interest rate will potentially go up.� Finance director Patty Kong projects average interest earnings of 3.5 percent a year on the $30 million. The city’s investment portfolio has paid interest ranging between the current 2.4 percent to a high of 5.7 percent in the last 10 years, Kong said. Last week, council members talked of spending the $30 million sooner rather than later, as inflation would make the $30 million worth
only $5 million in 53 years, Kong said. But, of course, if the council decides to spend the money, the interest earned would decrease, Kong said. Perhaps fortunately, what to do with all the $30 million doesn’t need to be figured out anytime soon. Kong said the lease money cannot be spent all at once. Interest payments aside, the council may only spend $580,000 in the first year and after every subsequent year of the 53-year lease. It could take many years for that to add up to an amount worth spending. V
identification,� he said. Consequently schools that are slapped with the program improvement label often end up with greater proportions of low-income, English-learners and special education kids. The movement of students adds to transportation costs, as bus routes are altered or new special routes are created, Goldman said. It also forces the district to reallocate resources, which is costly and can cause confusion. Goldman said that his district believes that at its core NCLB was intended to produce positive results.
“Accountability is a good thing,� he said. “Continuous improvement is a good thing as far as we’re concerned.� But considering the difficulties that have arisen from taking the funding, it simply isn’t worth it, Goldman said. Fortunately, the decision to accept Title I funds is made on an annual basis, Goldman said, and if the Obama administration along with the Department of Education make appropriate changes to the legislation, Mountain View Whisman can start accepting funds again in 2012-13. V
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