We sympathize with schools that can face severe federal penalties when only a few of their students don't make "adequate yearly progress" as defined in the federal No Child Left Behind act. But we worry that making schools less accountable for improving how well minority students, English learners and students with disabilities can read, write and do math could have negative consequences.

NCLB requires schools to test all students, including those categorized as racial and ethnic minorities, those learning to speak English and those who have mental and physical disabilities. They must report test scores to state and federal governments, and they must show progress among all groups.

Schools that don't meet the standard could be forced to allow students to transfer to other schools and to pay their transportation costs, pay for tutoring and even replace teachers.

Responding to that threat, the Utah Office of Education has increased from 10 to 40 the number of students constituting a subgroup that would have to show substantial improvement each year in math and language arts.

Almost every school in the Salt Lake Valley has at least one subgroup with fewer than 40 students and most have two or three. Under the new rule, those students will not have to meet the progress standard.

Educators promise their attention to minority students will not lessen, and we hope that is true. Still, the temptation will exist for teachers who must deal with overcrowded classrooms and too little pay.

No Child Left Behind has many flaws, but its strength is that it forces schools to pay particular attention to students who may be at risk of failing. Reducing the number of subgroups that have to be accounted for could let those children slip through the cracks, since school averages could still be good despite their poor scores.

Wording in the state's 2003 compliance plan recognized the importance of counting small groups in this homogenous state: "Many schools would not be accountable for subgroups if a [group] size greater than 10 were used."

We are concerned that the new plan could sacrifice remedial help for minority children so that schools can avoid penalties. That would be wrong.