A sharp drop in school-by-school grades on the annual 'report card' mandated by the 1998 Education Accountability Act is disturbing. Yet while the statewide 2005 marks released last week were negative, the practice of regularly measuring classroom performance remains a positive endeavor in the long-term mission to improve South Carolina's public schools. So is the continuing push for educational innovation - including educational choice.

Indeed, as required by the 2002 federal No Child Left Behind Act, any student attending a public school failing to achieve 'Adequate Yearly Progress' for two or more years in a row has a right to transfer to a school rated above the 'needs improvement' category. And S.C. Superintendent of Education Inez Tenenbaum, in a recent visit to this newspaper, aptly termed the troubling 2005 results 'a wake-up call.'

Ms. Tenenbaum also pointed out the 'increasing rigor' demanded by the Accountability Act was a major factor in reducing the percentage of schools attaining an 'average' or above grade from 83 to 74 percent. Because standards vary from state to state, a student here can fall short of a 'proficient' rating with the same score that earns such a rating in Texas.

Less convincing was the superintendent's 'poverty' argument that points to a slight climb - from 48.3 percent to barely more than half - in the number of S.C. schools with at least 70 percent of students in poverty. Though children in poverty are less likely to have strong parental involvement in education than children who aren't in poverty, that increase doesn't appear large enough to be a significant factor in the disappointing report card. And if, as Ms. Tenenbaum told us, last year's addition of Science and Social Studies to the Palmetto Achievement Challenge Tests taken by third- through eighth-graders produced a significant decrease in ratings, that suggests those subjects have not been sufficiently stressed.

The decline is particularly perplexing in view of the gains of previous years, including, from 1999 to 2005, increases from 56 to 83 percent in the number of third-graders scoring 'basic' or better on the math portion of the PACT.

Meanwhile, regardless of statewide results and trends, some schools defy the demographic odds that link low-income families to low test scores. Stono Park Elementary is an inspiring local example of how dedicated, skilled educators can boost parental involvement - and classroom performance - in schools with a large majority of students from poverty by refusing to lower expectations. School officials would do well to emulate Stono's formula while recognizing the necessity of maintaining the commitment to higher standards.

Though Gov. Mark Sanford is not optimistic about passing his long-stalled Put Parents In Charge initiative, the General Assembly - and all South Carolinians - should keep an open mind on any concept, including charter schools, that could enhance choice and competition. Even Ms. Tenenbaum, a consistent foe of PPIC's tax credits for private-school tuition, told us she favors 'universal choice' among public schools.

Certainly the state can't retreat from the competition of the global marketplace - a contest that will be decided, in large part, by the success or failure of our educational system.