To Waiver, or Not to Waiver?
By Norm Fruchter
U.S. Education Secretary Arne Duncan has proposed granting waivers to states to exempt them from some of the punitive sanctions of the No Child Left Behind (NCLB) law. The Secretary has the power to issue waivers from some of the law’s requirements. But it’s not clear that Duncan can legally require states to implement the administration’s favorite reform policies in exchange for waivers, which is what he’s proposing.
Although details are yet to be announced, Duncan will probably require a mix of the initial Race to the Top priorities that have divided the NY Board of Regents and many other school systems– support for Common Core curriculum and assessments, further expansion and support of charter schools, closing failing schools, and using student test scores as a key component of teacher evaluation – as the trade-off for waivers. This latest Duncan maneuver represents an end-run around a Congress as conflicted about reauthorizing NCLB as it was