Now you have the NCLB waiver, now you don’t
(Wash.) K-12 schools here are adjusting their budgets to deal with the $40 million impact of having their federal No Child Left Behind waiver revoked.
But any staffing or programs lost to the impending shift are likely to be offset by increased revenues from the improving state economy as well as additional school funding ordered under a 2012 court ruling.
Meanwhile, a spokesman for the state’s top education official vowed that work will continue toward meeting all waiver requirements in hopes of having it reinstated in 2015.
“The (U.S.) Department of Education has said, ‘you know, we have not extended your waiver for the ‘14-‘15 school year but if state law does change they you can reapply,” said Nathan Olson, spokesman for state Superintendent of Public Instruction Randy Dorn.
The issue, not unique to Washington, is that the waivers require teacher evaluation systems based in part on student test scores.
Forty-three states, plus Washington, D.C., Puerto Rico and a group of eight California school districts have received waivers – issued by the Obama Administration starting in 2011 to provide relief from some of the more onerous requirements of the top education law in the land.
The president also created his $4.3 billion Race to the Top fund to encourage states to implement new teacher evaluation systems and other changes.
Only one state – Ohio – appears to have adopted all elements of the program’s teacher evaluation requirements, according to an analysis released earlier this month by the U.S. Department of Education’s Institute of Education Sciences. (See Cabinet Report, May 2)
Other waiver holders have struggled to reach agreement with their teachers, who balk at having their performance – and under some proposals, their pay and job status – tied to student test Now you have the NCLB waiver, now you don’t :: SI&A Cabinet Report :: The Essential Resource for Superintendents and the Cabinet:
Bullying, lack of counselors are barriers to child wellness
(Va.) One in five high school students in the U.S. was bullied last year, according to results from a new survey on student health and safety. But girls, the report found, experienced cyberbullying at twice the rate of boys.