<P> In particular, NCLB does not require any programs for gifted, talented, and other high - performing students . Federal funding of gifted education decreased by a third over the law's first five years . There was one only one program, that helped improve the gifted, they received $9.6 million . In the 2007 budget, President George W. Bush zeroed this out . While NCLB is silent on the education of academically gifted students, some states (such as Arizona, California, Virginia, and Pennsylvania) require schools to identify gifted students and provide them with an appropriate education, including grade advancement . Research tells us an IQ of 120 is needed . In other states, such as Michigan, state funding for gifted and talented programs was cut by up to 90% in the year after the Act became law . </P> <P> "There's a fallacy in the law and everybody knows it," said Alabama State Superintendent Joe Morton on Wednesday, August 11, 2010 . According to the No Child Left Behind Act, by 2014, every child is supposed to test on grade level in reading and math . "That can't happen," said Morton . "You have too many variables and you have too many scenarios, and everybody knows that would never happen ." Alabama State Board Member Mary Jane Caylor said, "I don't think that No Child Left Behind has benefited this state ." She argued the goal of 100 percent proficiency is unattainable . Charles Murray wrote of the law: "The United States Congress, acting with large bipartisan majorities, at the urging of the President, enacted as the law of the land that all children are to be above average ." </P> <P> The system of incentives and penalties sets up a strong motivation for schools, districts, and states to manipulate test results . For example, schools have been shown to employ "creative reclassification" of high school dropouts (to reduce unfavorable statistics). For example, at Sharpstown High School in Houston, Texas, more than 1,000 students began high school as freshmen, and four years later, fewer than 300 students were enrolled in the senior class . However, none of these "missing" students from Sharpstown High were reported as dropouts . </P> <P> The act is promoted as requiring 100% of students (including disadvantaged and special education students) within a school to reach the same state standards in reading and mathematics by 2014; detractors charge that a 100% goal is unattainable, and critics of the NCLB requirement for "one high, challenging standard" claim that some students are simply unable to perform at the given level for their age, no matter how effective the teacher is . While statewide standards reduce the educational inequality between privileged and underprivileged districts in a state, they still impose a "one size fits all" standard on individual students . Particularly in states with high standards, schools can be punished for not being able to dramatically raise the achievement of students that may have below - average capabilities . </P>

All of the following are true regarding the school system in the united states except