Pressure from the federal No Child Left Behind Act to raise math and reading scores in Lawrence schools is testing the patience of some district officials.

Board member Leonard Ortiz, who teaches history at Kansas University, said he questioned the practicality of a law mandating all public school students be “proficient” in both subjects by 2014.

“Anybody who has taught knows it is unobtainable,” Ortiz said.

Nationally, he said, there was no way all public schools and school districts would comply with the law. The big stumbling block is so many families living in poverty, he said.

Supt. Randy Weseman said the challenge of educating each of the 9,900 students in the Lawrence district shouldn’t cause anyone to throw up his or her hands in resignation. He said he realized some children don’t come to school ready to learn.

“We all recognize how formidable the task is,” Weseman said. “We are not giving up on anybody.”

Students at three Lawrence secondary schools didn’t do well enough on state math and reading assessments to avoid setting off alarm bells built into the No Child Left Behind education reform law, state officials said this month.

Central Junior High School, Free State High School and Lawrence High School all were placed on a watch list for not demonstrating “adequate yearly progress” on reading or math assessments taken by students in the spring.

The school board and district administrators discussed the act during a retreat Friday at Kansas University.

Board member Sue Morgan said the overall goal of a public school education was unchanged by No Child Left Behind.

However, she said, sanctions that kick in when schools or districts fail to meet annual increases in academic performance appear to be “retaliatory.”

Leni Salkind, the board’s vice president, said the task of making all students proficient in core subjects within 11 years is overwhelming to think about.

The best way to deal with the act is to focus on incremental improvement from year to year, she said.

Salkind said district officials didn’t have the capacity to fret about what might or might not happen nationally in relation to the act.

“Our responsibility is right here in Lawrence,” she said.

Board member Linda Robinson said there were many educators unhappy with No Child Left Behind. She said the commitment of some staff to meet requirements of the law doesn’t run deep enough.

“That’s going to have to be our number one priority, to make sure all the players not just understand No Child Left Behind, but are supportive of what it’s going to take to get us there,” she said.

Dan Neuenswander, the district’s school improvement specialist, said the administration of the district was committed to goals of the law. Even if a teacher doesn’t buy in, Neuenswander said, that person better work as if he or she does.

“For eight hours a day, you better act like it,” said Neuenswander, a former superintendent in the district.