Cornerstones of federal compliance called barriers to innovation
By Tom Chorneau
Friday, November 30, 2012
For years, careful school administrators have been fearful of violating the federal government’s three major compliance mandates – supplement-not-supplant, comparability and maintenance of effort.
Now a prominent academic think tank is questioning whether the three requirements pose more of a barrier to school innovation than a deterrent to scofflaw administrators.
Researchers at the Center for Reinventing Public Education at the University of Washington have issued a report calling on Congress to consider revisions to federal policy, especially where the three compliance mandates intersect with use of new technology.
“The federal government should be doing all it can to promote technology-driven innovation for our school children,” the authors of the paper said. “Instead, federal policy stands in the way of innovation, both actively and passively.”
The issue is raised with respect to the federal government’s primary education programs – Title I, which is offered to districts to support disadvantaged students; and the Individuals with Disability Education Act, Part B, which supports special education.
Last year, Congress provided some $14.5 billion in Title I money to states, and another $11.6 billion in funds under