Choice, SES Would Flip Under Plan

U.S. officials to expand pilot on NCLB sanctions.

The U.S. Department of Education is planning to expand a pilot initiative that would flip the order of key consequences for schools’ low academic performance under the No Child Left Behind Act.

Building on an initiative piloted this school year in Virginia, participating districts could offer students a choice of supplemental educational services, or SES, a year before having to provide the option of transferring to a higher-performing school. Secretary of Education Margaret Spellings announced the plan last week.

While some state education officials are welcoming the new flexibility, which some of them had long sought, the effort is...