The kinds of kids we had didn't raise test scores Val, didn't earn any big fancy awards or get any positive attention. Putting them in one school was great for the kids, bad for the district. Who wants a reputation of being the school where everyone is "Basic" or below?

It was a real tragedy. I often think of the trickle down effect and how many lives could have been changed if we'd been able to stay open regardless of test scores and budgets. I'm pretty sure it costs more for the kids who went back into the system in some way than it did to educate them.