In the summer of my discontent, a sane voice (finally), " This spring, Mary-Powel Thomas got a letter notifying her that the school her two sons attend in Brooklyn had failed to make "adequate yearly progress" for the third year in a row. As a result, under the federal No Child Left Behind Act, she could send them to another school, or they could get extra tutoring if she kept them at PS 38, which is only three blocks from their home.

Ms. Thomas, who is president of the local PTA, decided to do neither. "My kids have gotten a great education at that school," she says. "The word failure is thrown around really carelessly."