NJ's Request for Waivers Draws Criticism from Advocacy Group
The Obama administration has yet to make an official decision on states' requests for waivers from the No Child Left Behind Act, the sweeping, and in many districts, deeply unpopular law.
But the reviews are in on New Jersey's waiver plan from one advocacy organization, which claims the plan would diminish resources going to needy schools—a charge rejected by the state.
The objections to New Jersey's plan were raised by the Education Law Center, which advocates for equal opportunities for students, particularly disadvantaged ones. The ELC, in a Dec. 22 letter to Secretary of Education Arne Duncan, asks federal officials to defer making a decision on New Jersey's waiver until "several serious concerns are properly addressed by the state."
The ELC, which laid out its concerns to New Jersey's acting commissioner of education Christopher Cerf a
