Title I schools in Title I School Improvement must offer public school choice to their students. A Title I school enters School Improvement after not making Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP) for two consecutive years. A Title I school exits School Improvement after making AYP for two consecutive years. A Title I School Improvement school must offer public school choice the entire time it remains in School Improvement.

Adequate Yearly Progress measures the yearly progress toward achieving state academic standards for each student group in a school in reading and mathematics. If just one student group in one subject at a school does not perform at the target goal percentage, the school is considered to have not made AYP. Student groups are: 1) the School as a Whole; 2) White; 3) Black; 4) Hispanic; 5) Native American; 6) Asian/Pacific Islander; 7) Multiracial; 8) Economically Disadvantaged Students; 9) Limited English Proficient Students; and 10) Students with Disabilities.

All students enrolled in Title I School Improvement schools are eligible for choice. If it is not possible to offer choice to all students requesting it, then priority must be given to the lowest-achieving, low-income students.

School districts are required to spend 20 percent of their Title I Part A money on choice transportation and supplementary educational services. After the 20 percent is spent, it is up to school districts to determine how to prioritize transportation among students who are the lowest achieving from low income families. Also, a school district might not be able to offer choice if all schools at a grade level are in School Improvement or if there is only one school at a certain grade level in the district. Districts must attempt to establish a cooperative agreement with other districts in the area. Districts may not use lack of school capacity to deny choice options.

Districts must provide parents with "reasonable" options, which is generally interpreted to mean at least two choices within the district, if there is more than one school that meets the criteria. School districts must take into account parental preferences among choice options, but parents do not necessarily have to be guaranteed their first choice of schools.

Choice schools must have higher academic performance than the original schools and may not be identified for Title I School Improvement. Choice schools may not be considered persistently dangerous. Students who transfer to choice schools must be enrolled in classes and other activities in the same manner as all other children. If there are certain transfer policies set in the district, those may be applied to NCLB school choice transfer students. But additional transfer policies may not be set to apply exclusively to NCLB school choice transfer students.

A school district must notify parents through personal letters and other means, such as newspapers and the Internet, that a school has entered Title I School Improvement and must offer public school choice. Parents must be notified before the first day of school the next year and in such a manner that allows for reasonable time for parents to make informed decisions. A school district must identify each public school that parents can select from and describe the performance and quality of those schools of choice. Parents must be offered a variety of ways in which to state their choices and should not be required to appear in person. The school district must look at parent responses, determine final choice options, and notify parents in a timely manner. Parents must then communicate whether they accept the final choice option or want their children to remain at the original school. Parents always have the option of declining their final choice option.

The school district must permit the student to remain in that school until he or she has completed the highest grade in the school. However, the school district is no longer obligated to provide transportation for the student after the end of the school year in which the student’s original school is no longer identified for School Improvement. If the new school is placed in School Improvement, the student has the option to move again to another school in a subsequent year. For more answers to questions on public school choice, see http://www.ncpublicschools.org/nclb/. "