Students Flood High Performing Schools, Effect Of No Child Left Behind

Successful schools nationwide are opening doors to students from low-performing schools as a result of the No Child Left Behind law.

The Washington Post reports that hundreds of families in Prince George's County, Md., have decided to transfer their students to the few high-performing schools in the area -- sometimes to the detriment of the schools on the receiving end.

According to The Post:

The flurry of transfers -- more than 700 in Prince George's this year across all 12 grades -- has packed classrooms while underscoring a tough aspect of the Bush administration's landmark education initiative. It demands steadily rising achievement -- all students are supposed to pass benchmark tests by 2014 -- and, as a result, more schools fail every year.

The result: overcrowding in successful schools and dwindling enrollment and funding in the weaker schools. Similar transfer issues have occurred across the country in cities like New York, according to The New York Times.

The Post reports,

More than half the county's schools failed to meet the No Child standards this year, up from last year, even though test scores rose modestly.