Maybe, in 2001, it seemed like 2014 was too far away to be worth much worry. In 2011, it’s not so far away. Not that it’s clear what is going to be done now about what was one of the more idealistic, well-intended, but ridiculous, notions ever put into federal law.

In 2001, and with strong bipartisan support, Congress approved the No Child Left Behind education reform law. Amid its complex notions, there were some clear intentions: Congress and the president (George W. Bush at that point, but Bill Clinton and Barack Obama would say much the same) were tired of putting a lot of money into schools across the country and not seeing much to show for it. They wanted to see the American education world buckle down to work especially on improving the achievement of low income and minority students. And they wanted every child to be reading and doing math on grade level by – oh, pick a date far away – 2014.

So they called the law No Child Left Behind. A wonderful idea – are you in favor of leaving some children behind? I’m not.

But given the real state of children, the obstacles so many face, the entrenched depth of so many issues, and the simple realities of what could be accomplished, it was an unrealistic idea. Even if everything went great, we were never going to reach 100% proficiency by 2014, or by any date.

Especially publicly, and sometimes even behind the scenes, people such as top officials in the Bush Administration, were adamant about the 100% goal. (Education writer Linda Perlstein wrote several years ago that if you asked some No Child Left Behind advocates whether 80% was a more realistic goal than 100%, they would ask why you hated the other 20%.) I was part of an editorial board meeting at the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel with then-Secretary of Education Margaret Spellings several years ago. I told her she was welcome to get in a car with me and in 15 minutes, I would have her at the door of any of at least 50 schools that would never reach even close to 100% proficiency within current realities. She said I was wrong and all of these schools could get every student up to up to grade level. Mind you, I thought these schools could all be improved and could get better results. But I thought a greater sense of reality and an accountability scheme that was in touch with reality was a valuable step toward improvement.

In 2001 or so, the presumed route out of this was that the law was due to be reauthorized – basically, overhauled – in 2007. Things would be adjusted then. But partisan gridlock over education kept that from happening. Wait until after the 2008 presidential election, people figured. It didn’t happen then. And now, in the all-the-more partisan and gridlocked situation in Washington, it still isn’t happening.

So the original law remains in effect. It’s 2011, the number of schools that are not meeting the achievement and progress requirements is rising, and you can see the time coming when every school in the nation will be officially labeled as not meeting its requirements under the federal law. In Wisconsin, the Department of Public Instruction, under then-Superintendent of Public Instruction Elizabeth Burmaster, kept the achievement bar set low for the first bunch of years under No Child Left Behind, and back loaded the period when proficiency needed to shoot up to 100%. So far, the number of “schools identified for improvement” remains relatively, as DPI announced a few days ago. But the ramp up is accelerating and will get much more pronounced in the next year or two if nothing is done.

So, with prospects for some breakthrough in Congress uncertain, at best, Secretary of Education Arne Duncan announced this week that he’s getting ready to take action. He said he will use regulatory authority to re-do important parts of the scheme of sanctions set in the law, pretty much erasing the 100% goal. He said his department is working on new rules that would emphasize such things as improving teaching quality, raising standards, and improving accountability.

“Everybody agrees on one thing: the law is in dire need of reform,” Duncan said in a phone press conference. He called the current state of No Child Left Behind “a slow-motion train wreck.” He said Plan A is to have Congress act, but he’s developing Plan B for his own action, which he indicated he will impose before September, when the new school year starts. “We can’t just sit here and do nothing,” he said.

My advice to you: Pay less and less attention to lists of schools not hitting their No Child Left Behind marks (which too often have been labeled failing schools). Don’t expect anything to come out of Congress (which has too many divisions on education and spending issues and too many other things on its plate). Keep an eye on Duncan. He might do some interesting things.

And keep hoping and striving for better things for all of our children, including those with the greatest needs. But do that realistically.