NCLB Waiver - The Most Costly Relief Ever
Good news! The MO State Board of Education is working on an application for an NCLB waiver. Finally! We will have relief from the onerous requirements of that ill-conceived legislation and everything will be all right.
It would be fine, except for the fact that the MO legislature is looking at a $500 million deficit next year and other states who have applied for the waiver have estimated the costs to the state for compliance with the terms of the waiver at several hundred million or more.
California recently declined to apply for an NCLB waiver. In an interview with Ed Week, Diane Ravitch explained,
One of the many problems with NCLB is that it came packaged with unrealistic, expensive and heavy-handed federal mandates. It put too much emphasis on testing and punishment for failure to reach impossible goals.
It would be fine, except for the fact that the MO legislature is looking at a $500 million deficit next year and other states who have applied for the waiver have estimated the costs to the state for compliance with the terms of the waiver at several hundred million or more.
California recently declined to apply for an NCLB waiver. In an interview with Ed Week, Diane Ravitch explained,
One of the many problems with NCLB is that it came packaged with unrealistic, expensive and heavy-handed federal mandates. It put too much emphasis on testing and punishment for failure to reach impossible goals.