Districts 25 and 26 are high-performing districts, and they don't want to see that change.

At least five who are expected to be named are widely respected community school district superintendents and four of those currently oversee relatively high-performing districts.

While wealthier, high-performing districts might thrive under such a system, poorer ones are likely to suffer, they argue.

Arthur Greenberg, a former superintendent in Queens, said it would be extremely hard for high-performing districts to improve enough to get the bonuses, since their students are already scoring near the top.

Others in high-performing districts do not want those schools associated with poor communities nearby.

South Carolina is among states that reward high-performing districts with additional money the next year.

The typical client, Mr. Sklarow said, fits the boomer stereotype, with parents in professions, an income of $75,000 to $125,000, and residence in a high-performing public-school district.

Several educators said this week that in high-performing districts in Manhattan and Queens, nearly every school that did not make the list would fight to change it.

For example, in Charlotte, the most consistently high-performing district in the study, only 24 percent of fourth graders were proficient in reading, which is defined as solid academic performance.

"We never intended to adversely impact the high-performing districts by subjecting them to severe budget constraints," she said.