The inspector general's office at the federal education department is questioning the provision of the federal No Child Left Behind Act that labels schools "persistently dangerous."

The law leaves it up to states to determine what constitutes a persistently dangerous school, and as a result, most states have made the definitions so strict that they don't have any. Maryland is one of only seven states in the nation that has used the label. Late last month, it designated five Baltimore middle and high schools "persistently dangerous," despite the concern of some state school board members that the label is unfair.

Because Maryland defines persistently dangerous schools according to the number of suspensions for violent offenses, teachers and principals around the state report that kids aren't being suspended when they should be or that suspensions aren't being recorded properly. 

The inspector general's report says the provision of the law "has not advanced the national effort to ensure students a safe school environment."

William Modzeleski, the second-in-command in the federal education department’s office of safe and drug-free schools, told Education Week that the department will consider the report as it makes its recommendations to Congress on the provision. (No Child Left Behind is up for reauthorization this year.) He said there is concern "that the states have set the bars too high" for determining what is an unsafe school

“This is definitely an issue that should be closely reviewed,” Modzeleski told Education Week. “Philosophically, I don’t think there’s much disagreement on why the provision is there, but there is a lot of discussion around what constitutes a safe school and what constitutes an unsafe school.”

Education Week's story about the report is available here. And the federal report is available online at:

www.ed.gov/about/offices/list/oig/auditreports/s03g0015.pdf