Alice Mercer: California Districts Get NCLB Waiver Despite Union Objections
Guest post by Alice Mercer.
Discussions about education policy are often based on some dangerous and deceptive assumptions. Some examples are; tests measure whether student learning has occurred, education is the gateway to the middle-class, and student test scores can be used to measure teacher effectiveness. Added to this list is a new misunderstanding, what could be wrong with getting out from under NCLB mandates? Here is a story about what happens when those who would destroy public education control the message and what you need to know to tell truth to power about these divisive waivers.
Last week, the US Department of Education announced that it had approved a waiver to CORE, a consortium of districts in California.
Who is CORE and why are these consortia not good for public education?
Who is CORE and why are these consortia not good for public education?
CORE, the California Office to Reform Education, is a district consortium, a new type of entity created by the U.S. Department of Education when they created district level grants for Race to the Top (see page 5). CORE is a separate, eligible legal entity, that could apply for the grant on its own behalf. In doing this, the Department of Education has created a new educational legal entity, outside of states' systems of districts, etc. The big concerns are that the consortium does not answer to anyone but the member districts, and districts in regards to grants and agreements, answer to the consortium. The Federal government has carved a