Illinois High Schools Failing To Meet Federal Standards

CHICAGO (WBBM) -- When it comes to meeting federal academic standards in reading and math, most high schools in Illinois fall short, including institutions that are considered to be "elite" schools.

Newsradio 780's Bernie Tafoya reports, the bad news was spelled out to the Illinois State Board of Education on Wednesday.

Of the 665 public high schools in the state, more than 600 of them did not meet the bar set by the federal No Child Left Behind law.

In other words, 91 percent of high schools did not have at least 77.5 percent of its students meeting or beating test scores for their grade levels.

On the elementary school side of the ledger, 44 percent fell short.

New Trier High School missed the mark this year--for the first time ever.

The school's superintendent, Linda Yonke, told the Chicago Tribune that 98 percent of her students go on to college, so New Trier is hardly failing.

Because learning disabled students at the Winnetka school did not make the grade, the entire school fails under No Child Left Behind rules, she said.