The State Education Department has notified about one-third of Missouri’s school districts that they don’t measure up to federal education standards.
A spokesman for the Department of Education says 167 districts are in that category, many of them because students needing special education or those who have English as a second language don’t reach required levels.
But the No Child Left Behind law says the entire school district is ruled "in need of improvement" if one or a few groups of students is behind standards.
