A collaborative of California school districts known as the California Office to Reform Education, or CORE, plans to move forward with its application for a waiver from the most severe provisions of No Child Left Behind by the end of the month, the next deadline for states to apply. CORE intends to proceed with or without Gov. Jerry Brown’s blessing or U.S. Education Secretary Arne Duncan’s invitation.
“We believe we will have a compelling application, given that the state has not been successful, and hope that the secretary will see it that way,” said Rick Miller, a consultant with Capitol Impactand executive director of CORE.
Miller said CORE has been in talks with both Brown’s and Duncan’s offices for a number of months and those are continuing. He said they would welcome the governor’s approval, but it’s not essential. “The state cannot veto the waiver application, but can comment on it,” Miller said.
Education Secretary Arne Duncan testifying before the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee about NCLB waivers. Source: U.S. Dept. of Education photo by Leslie Williams. (Click to enlarge)
There is disagreement on whether the federal education law allows individual districts to apply for waivers. During a hearing last Thursday before the U.S. Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee, Senator Lamar Alexander, R-Tennessee, pressed Duncan on the issue, saying he believes it’s not in the statute. Rather than taking a position on the legality of district waivers, Duncan said his biggest concern is capacity. With 15,000 school districts that could potentially apply, it would be unmanageable