A day after a disappointing No Child Left Behind report card showed a rising number of failing schools in smaller, poorer districts, Gov. Mark Sanford said Thursday he would seek again to tie teacher certification incentives to steer top teachers where they're needed most.

But key players quickly voiced reservations.

Sanford included the plan in his proposed 2005-06 executive budget, but it was rejected by the General Assembly.

He said Thursday the request would be included in his 2006-07 budget to be presented to legislators in January.

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The new test data showed "performance in South Carolina's schools has declined nearly across the board, and our state's rural school districts have again cited the need for the state to create incentives for teachers to work in those districts," Sanford said in a statement released by his office.

Under Sanford's proposal, bonuses for new nationally certified teachers would be tied to their agreement to teach critical needs subjects or in low-performing schools.

But Rep. Ronnie Townsend, R-Anderson, is skeptical.

"I would have to be very lukewarm, because I know that there are teachers who are not nationally board certified that probably will try to get certified if they don't have this string tied to it," he said.

Also, Townsend said he isn't sold on the idea of locking teachers into assignments because of changing school populations.

"It's not like you're doing the same children every year," he said.

Those changing demographics are a reason he's "not overly alarmed" at the just-released results, Townsend said.

Paul Krohne, executive director of the South Carolina School Boards Association, said that while members applaud Sanford's recognition of board certification's linkage to superior classroom teaching and commitment to aid rural schools, they question a narrowed focus in the bonus program.

"The governor appears to be calling for the narrowing of the program's monetary bonus, and as a result, reduces the state's commitment to reward all teachers attaining national board certification regardless of where they teach. If the Legislature agrees for the need to narrow the program, then the program should target the neediest schools," Krohne said.

He said meeting the test of global economic competition requires that "we need to expand -- not narrow -- strategies that will ensure every student in every school is taught by a high-quality teacher.

Jim Foster, spokesman for state Education Superintendent Inez Tenenbaum, said Sanford's concept is "certainly worth putting on the table," but falls short of the "really big issue -- finding a way to level the playing field on teacher salaries."

Rural districts with modest tax bases can't compete in either attracting or retaining top-flight teachers in the face of better-paying jobs in city or suburban schools, he said.

But Sanford said more of the most qualified teachers would make a difference.

"There's no question that having highly qualified teachers is a key component of educational achievement, and I'd give great credit to every teacher in this state for what they do day in and day out in educating our students," he said.

"But the fact is when you have consistently under-performing schools and less than 2 percent of Nationally Certified Teachers actually teaching in our rural schools, we're clearly not doing enough to put teachers where they're needed most," Sanford said.

Ann Byrd of the Center for Educator Recruitment, Retention and Advancement in Rock Hill said 84 of the state's 85 school districts have certified teachers, although the numbers can vary widely among the districts.

Among the state's 1,083 schools there was a 12 percent decline -- to 43 percent -- in the number rated "excellent" or "good," the top rankings in the five-level system.

Despite having slightly higher scores on the Palmetto Achievement Challenge Test, more schools across the state and in Greenville County failed to make "adequate yearly progress," the benchmark set by the four-year-old federal law.