About 20 percent of the state’s public schools so far have failed to meet the federal standards in reading and math established by No Child Left Behind.

Of Maine’s 711 schools, 132 did not make the “annual yearly progress” required by the 2001 law. Results from another 61 schools need further evaluation, and it’s possible the number of “problem” schools could increase.

Schools are judged on the results from the 2003-04 Maine Educational Assessment given to fourth-, eighth- and 11th-graders last March.

The very best parts of No Child Left Behind attempt to improve the education that the poorest, most disadvantaged and disabled students receive. But, instead of building an education system with the capacity to deliver consistent, high quality results, this law relies on punitive labels, ignores subjects beyond reading and math, and is test heavy.

The net result is many good schools get tagged with a failing label because small subgroups of students don’t meet federal standards on progress.

For some of the schools that did not meet the NCLB standards, it can be a small group of students that threaten the reputation – and eventually, the existence – of individual schools.

Of the 132 schools that did not meet the progress requirement, 50 are on the list for the second consecutive year. They have been designated as “continuous improvement priority schools.” The name is pretty benign, but the consequences can be severe. Those schools must develop an action plan and they could be required to provide tutors or to let students transfer to other schools within the district. In many of Maine’s rural communities, transfer is an unreasonable alternative.

Ideally, Maine would reduce the number of schools that fail to meet the federal standards. But in terms of overall performance, Maine compares well to other states, where failure rates have reached as high as almost 80 percent. That’s a little bit of good news, but probably little solace to parents with kids in the schools that have been judged negatively.

The state continues to negotiate with the federal government to fix the problems in No Child Left Behind, particularly the relative weight given to small groups of students.

It’s absolutely appropriate to demand that no child be left behind by public education. What’s not appropriate, and what continues to be a problem with the No Child Left Behind law, is the way the system is stacked to create failing schools where good ones exist.