We feel that if a school is growing quite well, even if they don't meet AYP, they're on the right track.

It is going to get harder for everybody. The targets will stay flat through 2007, but after that, they are going to go up dramatically. After that, it is going to be really hard for schools statewide to make it.

Not as many went in as we predicted. Kids are learning more in the schools. That's the good news. The more disturbing news is that once you're in the later years of 'program improvement,' you don't get out.

I even mentioned it would only be right if we had a school named after him and he said no.

This is a North Atlantic right whale. I'm going to use it (later) during school presentations.

Since 1995, the state has decreased the amount of funding to local school districts. Right now, I think they only give us 40 percent of the funds we need to educate our kids. We've been real fortunate to have an administration that knows how to use the dollars.