Stephen Downs and other edubloggers noted this tidbit in the UK:
“Knowsley Council in Merseyside, which – for years – has languished near or at the bottom of exam league tables, has abolished the use of the word to describe secondary education in the borough.

It is taking the dramatic step of closing all of its eleven existing secondary schools by 2009. As part of a £150m government-backed rebuilding programme, they will reopen as seven state-of-the-art, round-the-clock, learning centres with the aid of Microsoft – which has already developed links with one school in the borough, Bowring.
Read the article in the Independent.

Like those blogging about this, I welcome the departure. The rationale makes sense: students aren’t learning.