Troubled schools miss mark set by judge

North Carolina's lowest-performing high schools failed to make enough progress last year to escape a state judge's threats of penalties as stiff as replacing their principals or shutting down the schools.

None of the 17 schools, including Durham's Hillside and Southern, topped an overall passing rate of 55 percent on state exams, which means that state and local education leaders are under intense pressure to help the schools improve.

Judge Howard Manning Jr., who is overseeing the state's response to a court ruling on school quality, issued an ultimatum in March: Unless the schools exceeded the 55 percent passing rate, he would order them closed if their principals were not replaced and specific reform measures imposed. All of the schools had been below 55 percent for the four previous years.

Manning has set a hearing for Aug. 18 to review the state's plans to rescue the troubled schools.

State Superintendent June Atkinson said she was hoping that the schools would make a better showing.

"I was optimistic that we would see more improvement," Atkinson said Wednesday. "But it takes more time to turn around a school than just a year."

The focus on the high schools is unrelated to the federal No Child Left Behind law and was prompted instead by Manning, who has been demanding better education opportunities for struggling students.

Last year, Gov. Mike Easley promised to assign "turnaround teams" to 44 struggling high schools, including the 17 lowest-performing schools. But many of the schools got little or no state assistance until the spring. Even among 10 high schools in Charlotte that were the first to get help from the state, beginning last fall, four of the lowest-achieving schools showed little improvement.

In Durham, both Hillside and Southern high schools lost ground. Hillside's passing rate slipped from 47.3 percent to 44.5 percent; Southern's fell from 54.1 percent to 45.6 percent.

The drop was due in part to the addition of tests in three subjects -- U.S. history, civics and writing -- that the state had suspended three years ago. Statewide, previous performance on those three tests has been among the worst of any tests taken by high school students. Passing rates at the two Durham high schools were slightly better when the results in those three tests were excluded but still below the 55 percent threshold set by Manning.

Easley announced a more aggressive plan last month aimed at improving the state's struggling high schools, including any of the 44 with a passing rate this year of less than 60 percent. Principals and other key administrators in the schools will be required to participate in leadership training through the University of North Carolina, and each school must adopt an improvement approach that has proved successful elsewhere.

Atkinson said the schools also need support from within their communities.

"If every community and every parent and every mentor could express over and over to students how important it is to get a quality education," she said, "it would be easier for these schools to improve."

She said she will assure Manning next month that the state is committed to helping the schools.