Several schools in Hawaii successfully appealed their placement on a list of schools that failed to make Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP) under the No Child Left Behind Law.

The Honolulu Advertiser article talks about the details of the law, but something more basic struck me as I read through the story. One school principal said "When something is as high stakes as AYP, I look at everything. I make sure they copy down the scores right and what is reported to (No Child Left Behind) is what is true."

It's hard to fault a principal for looking out for her school. On the other hand, for whom are the stakes the highest? For the adults in the school, who might (if the school performs poorly long enough) have their working conditions changed through one of several different forms of "restructuring."

And would that be a bad thing? For some school employees, yes.

Then again, why do we have schools? To employ adults, or to educate students? It seems to me that much of the anguish over NCLB is based on the self-interest of school administrators and unions.