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More than $20 million has been spent on a program to help narrow the achievement gap between some black and Latino students and their white and Asian-American peers, but it has produced only minimal results, according to a recently released report by the county's Office of Legislative Oversight.

Some $27.4 million has been spent since fiscal 1998 on the Northeast Consortium and Downcounty Consortium, which were established to ease overcrowding and help integrate schools in the Silver Spring area, with an eye toward closing the gap.

However, neither consortium has worked to decrease the school population or reverse white flight, the report said.

County taxpayers have paid 77 percent — or roughly $21 million — of the cumulative costs. The other 23 percent — or $6 million — came from federal grants.

In fiscal 2009, county taxpayers will fund 90 percent — or $2.9 million — of the $3.2 million price tag for the consortia, according to the OLO report.

In response to the report, schools Chief Operating Officer Larry A. Bowers wrote to the OLO that the consortia "have been exceptionally successful in providing students high-quality program choices."

And if it weren't for the consortia, he said, many of the county's neediest students would be denied access to International Baccalaureate and dance programs.

"If access to these programs were limited to students living in the base areas, many programs would be underenrolled," Bowers wrote. "The program offerings at the consortia schools have provided recent graduates with postsecondary opportunities that were not available prior to the implementation of consortia programs."

A total of eight high schools are in the consortia. James Hubert Blake, Paint Branch and Springbrook high schools are in the Northeast Consortium, which began in 1998.

Montgomery Blair, Albert Einstein, John F. Kennedy, Northwood and Wheaton high schools are in the Downcounty Consortium, which began in 2004.

With the consortium, each high school offers a signature program. Wheaton, for example, offers information technology and engineering to students, while Springbrook offers an international studies and technology program.

The school system allows students that live within the boundary area to rank a high school based on their interest in the program. A student's assignment to a school is based on several factors, including gender and socioeconomic status, among other considerations.

The consortia were supposed to balance the schools' racial makeup, but white students are leaving for other buildings, numbers show.

In fiscal 1999, for instance, 40 percent of Paint Branch High School's enrollment was white. But by fiscal 2008, 22 percent of the population was white, a drop of 18 percentage points.

In fiscal 2005, 17 percent of John F. Kennedy High School's population was white. By fiscal 2008, that number had dipped to 12 percent, the data show.

In addition to closing the achievement gap, the intent of the Northeast Consortium was to ease overcrowding at Paint Branch and Springbrook high schools. Blake was opened in 1998 for that reason.

"My experience is that, unfortunately, the intent was more with an eye toward avoiding a boundary situation," said incoming school board member Philip Kauffman, a former area vice president of the Northeast Consortium. "The reasons were not really driven for improving student performance."

The percentage of students who have ever been on a free or reduced-price meal plan — indicators of poverty — has increased at all consortia schools.

From fiscal 1999 to fiscal 2008, the percentage of students on the meal plan jumped 13 percentage points, from 43 percent to 56 percent, the report said.

At Northwood High School, the percentage of students on a free or reduced-priced meal plan increased 6 percentage points, from 50 percent to 56 percent.

But while the percentage of economically disadvantaged students have grown in the consortia, the OLO's report does not acknowledge that six of the eight consortium high schools already had a much higher poverty rate than others, Bowers wrote. Also, the poverty rates at those schools account for the most economically disadvantaged high schools in the entire system.

The report was requested by Councilwoman Valerie Ervin (D-Dist. 5) of Silver Spring, chairwoman of the County Council's Education Committee. Ervin could not be reached for comment.

The committee will discuss the report at 10:15 a.m. Dec. 8. The meeting will take place in the seventh-floor conference hearing room at the Stella B. Werner Council Office Building, 100 Maryland Ave. in Rockville.