Do Or Die

The new year arrived at Spencer Bibbs Advanced Learning Academy in a bold, colorful way. Students at the K-5 school in Pensacola, Florida, sported uniforms of navy shorts and crisp white polo shirts, the girls punctuating the look with matching hair ribbons and beads. Even the teachers, secretaries, and classroom volunteers got in on the act, their fashion sense set aside for the sake of school unity.

Staff and students could easily have opened the year dressed in mourning black. Recently, the state branded Bibbs a failing school and delivered what some think could be a fatal blow: Under a new accountability initiative approved recently by Florida lawmakers, Bibbs students were offered vouchers to attend the public or private school of their choice. Dozens took the state up on its offer, and if more children flee in the coming years, the school could eventually be forced to close.

Bibbs is not the only Florida school facing this do-or-die situation. Students at nearby A.A. Dixon Elementary can also use state funds to enroll at other schools. But neither Bibbs nor Dixon is giving up. Together, they are fighting back to prove their failing marks-the state literally gave the schools an F for their students' scores on...