California Schools Make Gains, But Face Federal Sanctions

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) -- California schools posted gains on a key measure of academic performance for the ninth straight year, but more campuses failed to reach the federal government's rising benchmarks.

The state Department of Education on Wednesday reported a record 49 percent of public schools met or surpassed the state target score of 800 on the 1,000-point Academic Performance Index. Last year 46 percent of schools reached that goal.

The department says the target was met by 55 percent of elementary schools, 43 percent of middle schools and 28 percent of high schools.

But officials say 913 more schools could face sanctions under the federal No Child Left Behind law for failing to reach government benchmarks. California now has 3,892 such schools, which are required to take action to improve test scores.

(Copyright 2011 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)