Spellings plans to ease 'No Child' law

WASHINGTON, March 19 (UPI) -- The Bush administration plans to give 10 U.S. states permission to target schools with major problems, easing one provision of the "No Child Left Behind" law.

In the six years since the law was passed, 10 percent of the schools in the country, or about 9,000, have been identified as "in need of improvement." In some cases, schools failed in only one category.

U.S. Education Secretary Margaret Spellings announced the change Tuesday in a speech in St. Paul, Minn., The New York Times reported.

"We need triage," she said.

Under the law, schools must meet goals for test scores for students in a number of categories, including the disabled, blacks, Hispanics and students whose first language isn't English. The law makes no distinction between schools that miss in only one category and those with across-the-board failure.

Once a school is designated as "in need of improvement" parents can seek transfers for their children and schools could be forced to provide tutoring for students.