More than 500 students ask to leave underperforming schools

Saturday, September 18th 2004, 12:54 pm

By: News On 6

OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) _ More than 500 students in the Tulsa and Oklahoma City public school districts asked to be transferred to higher-performing schools under the federal No Child Left Behind Act.

Their parents requested the moves after they learned their schools were low-performing.

The federal law allows parents to transfer students if their neighborhood school makes the state's School Improvement List two years in a row. The schools have to offer free tutoring as an alternative to transfers.

Parents of 367 Tulsa Public Schools students asked for transfers out of 11 of the district's Title I schools that have been targeted for improvement. Schools with high poverty rates receive federal Title I money to improve education.

Some of the students have already started attending their new schools, said district spokesman John Hamill.

The requests are down from last year, when more than 500 Tulsa parents asked to move their children, Hamill said.

Parents of 143 Oklahoma City Public Schools students requested transfers from the district's 20 schools on the needs-improvement list. Some transfers were granted the first week of school, but the district accepted requests through Friday, said Alan Ingram, executive director of federal programs for Oklahoma City schools.

Last year, fewer Oklahoma City parents asked for transfers, but the number of Oklahoma City schools on the list almost doubled this year.