Not long ago a School Board member railed at the Wake County Commissioners by saying they were about to destroy world-class schools in Raleigh.

Well, the County Commissioners can stop trying. The No Child Left Behind Act has done it for them. Now, I know No Child Left Behind is not the most popular program. Just mention it to a school administrator and he sees red. (“It’s draconian,” Wake County’s Assistant Superintendent for Evaluation told The News & Observer.) But it’s also about the only evaluation we have of our schools – that isn’t done by the people administering them.

No Child Left Behind reported “more than half of Triangle schools didn’t have enough students passing state exams,” that “a record 14 Wake elementary schools will face sanctions,” and “overall passing rates were low this year… 24% of Wake County schools.”

Johnston County, which has never claimed to have world-class schools, had a 50% passing rate.

This year the School Board bludgeoned the County Commissioners for a big budget increase by claiming without it we’d lose world-class schools in Raleigh. Maybe next year they can get another increase by saying we need it to catch up with Johnston County.

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