NCLB In Chicago

The Chicago Public Schools are planning changes to correct a massive number of schools that have failed to meet the standards set by NCLB. From the Sun-Times:

Up to a third of Chicago's public schools are supposed to undergo radical "restructuring" this fall after being branded as chronic failures by the federal No Child Left Behind law.

It sounds like CPS will be getting those schools into shape in no time!

Or maybe not. From the very next paragraph:

But for most of the schools, the changes won't be that dramatic; Chicago officials are adopting the least severe of five restructuring options allowed under the 4-year-old law. Their plans will be formally released today.

So the changes are radical but undramatic, which means they are not radical at all, which means the reporter buries the lede. Perhaps this will state the matter a little more clearly:

The Chicago Public Schools are planning to do the absolute minimum that they can possibly get away with to correct schools that have failed to meet NCLB standards for five years running. By doing as little as possible, CPS plans to circumvent the intentions of the law without actually breaking it, hoping that a new, Democratic administration in 2008 will relieve them of their burden to actually educate Chicago students.