USA Today reports that 19 schools designated as "Blue Ribbon Schools" of excellence by the U.S. Department of Education also appear on states' lists of failing schools. As noted in last week's Gadfly, the federal Blue Ribbon Schools program was the subject of a Brookings expose last year and the Department recently announced that it would begin making test scores a major component of the selection process. "19 of USA's 'finest' schools are 'failing'," by Karen Thomas and Anthony DeBarros, USA Today, August 5, 2002
