LA Unified, seven other California districts granted reprieve from No Child Left Behind
U.S. Education Secretary Arne Duncan addresses the National School Board Association's Federal Relations Nedtwork Conference at the Hilton Washington Hotel January 28, 2013 in Washington, DC. Duncan faced a number of questions from conference attendees on issues including charter schools, unfunded mandates and reauthorization of the No Child Left Behind program.
Los Angeles Unified and seven other California school districts will receive waivers from strict provisions of the No Child Left Behind Act, the federal Department of Education announced Tuesday.
Secretary of Education Arne Duncan announced the decision in a conference call with members of the media. He was joined by Christopher Steinhauser, superintendent of the Long Beach Unified School District.
The No Child Left Behind Act mandates that schools bring all students to proficiency in Math and English by 2014 or face harsh penalties, including possible closure.
Few schools are expected to meet that goal. Since 2011, the Obama Administration has been granting waivers to states if they agreed to certain reforms. California's application was rejected, because it did not include provisions to connect teacher evaluations with student standardized test scores. State officials said they would not reapply.
That prompted school districts within the state to join together and submit their own