Texas granted more time to decide on AYP

 Some Texas parents will have to wait until October 8—more than six weeks after the first day of school—to find out whether their children are entitled to transfer to a higher-performing campus under No Child Left Behind. Parent advocates said the delay by theTexas Education Agency is unacceptable and effectively renders No Child Left Behind's toughest sanctions meaningless.

TEA officials said they need more time to figure out how a new Texas Assessment of Knowledge and Skills test for special education students should factor into determining whether schools made the so-called "adequate yearly progress" that No Child Left Behind demands. The U.S. Department of Education signed off on the state's request for more time.

Even though more than 260,000 children statewide are eligible to transfer, only 1,522 students left low-performing schools in the 2006-07 school year. About 1,750 students received supplemental tutoring. Read more in The Houston Chronicle online.