State’s ESEA waiver request related to tutoring requirement denied
The state’s effort to give more control to local districts in choosing after-school tutors for struggling students has been denied by the U.S. Department of Education.
Tom Torlakson, state superintendent of public instruction, said Wednesday that he was disappointed the federal government did not approve the state’s request for a waiver from No Child Left Behind requirements related to tutoring.
“California has led the way in giving districts the opportunity to make their own decisions about how best to use state and local resources to meet their local needs,” he said in a prepared statement. “Unfortunately, this decision goes in the other direction and retains policies that significantly limit local control and decision-making, and reduce student access to high-quality extended-day instruction.”
The state requested a four-year waiver to relieve districts from a requirement to spend up to 20 percent of Title I federal funds for low-income students on supplementary educational services that are largely provided by private companies off-site. California argued that its schools spent about $507 million on these services over three school years, but found little evidence of improved student academic performance.
In light of this, the State Board of Education and California Department of Education proposed that districts be allowed to develop and administer their own programs, designed and monitored by highly qualified teachers. Since these programs would likely be offered at schools, they would be more convenient for parents and would enable teachers to provide feedback on student progress, the state said. However, districts that wanted to continue contracting with outside tutors could have continued to do that, according to the proposal.
“We strongly believe decisions about how and where to provide services to students are best made at the local level,” Torlakson said. “Districts are in the best position to design extended-day intervention strategies to provide assistance to low-income students who are struggling academically in subjects such as English language arts, mathematics, and science.”
Congress is currently considering two separate bills to reauthorize the Elementary Secondary Education Act, formerly known as No Child Left Behind. Neither bill would require districts to set aside 20 percent of Title 1 funds for supplemental services, Torlakson said. He also noted that the U.S. Department of Education has granted waivers to 43 states and eight large districts in California.
When the state board decided to seek the waiver in May, board President Michael Kirst said he believed district-run programs would be better aligned to what’s being taught in the classroom.
At the time, several districts supported the waiver proposal. Some said students didn’t take advantage of existing programs and that some tutoring providers submitted invoices for tutoring that never took place and forged students’ signatures.
Staff writer John Fensterwald contributed to this report. State’s ESEA waiver request related to tutoring requirement denied | EdSource:
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Today Secretary Duncan canceled Washington State’s No Child Left Behind Waiver. Why? Because Washington State’s ELECTED officials were not able to conform to Duncan demands to DO IT HIS WAY (you know, the corporate way to privatizing Public Education). I can’t decide if he is just Arne the Corporate Autocrat or he doesn’t care. Either way there is a ton of money that is at stake with Duncan’s withdrawal of the waiver. The big ticket item in this waiver is the SES - Supplemental Education Services which can be up to 20% of Title I funds designated for the poorest students. This is a program, by Sec. Duncan’s own admission, is a failure ( see links at the end of this piece). It is a terrible waste of much needed funds. Arne the Corporate Autocrat would rather continue to waste this money because Washington State won’t knuckle under to his demands.
Recently my district here in Sacramento withdrew from a district waiver similar to the Washington State’s. The former Sacramento Superintendent, a Corporate Reformer, a graduate of the Broad Academy said this about losing the waiver here in Sacramento:
“You can imagine my shock and sadness at hearing the news of the district’s decision to abandon its hard-earned waiver from the failed and punitive No Child Left Behind law. Equally distressing is the lack of discourse over what our children will lose, and the lack of outrage, empathy and courage from those in a community whose sole focus should be on protecting and advocating for the best interests of children. By giving up the No Child Left Behind waiver, here is what the children of Sacramento will lose:
• Sacramento City Unified will lose flexibility over the use of $4 million to support our most disadvantaged students.Roughly $4 million is wasted each year on ineffective supplemental education service providers – tutors approved by the state – who are not accountable to the district and over which Sacramento City Unified has no direct supervision. With the waiver, district schools and teachers could have used these dollars much more effectively to expand engaging after-school programs and offer summer experiences filled with civic and community engagement such as Summer of Service, and more.Without the waiver Sacramento City Unified no longer has the flexibility to give these students what they need and deserve – and families should be outraged.
• Sacramento City Unified will lose the ability to remove the label of “failure” that No Child Left Behind attached to three-quarters of Sacramento schools.NCLB labeled these schools failures because they did not reach every annual goal that the law set. But NCLB is a misguided and ineffective federal policy that labels students, schools and teachers based on unachievable and unrealistic goals. It doesn’t take into account children’s academic growth or other pertinent measures that demonstrate how greatly Sacramento City Unified schools have improved.Without the waiver, the dark cloud of “failure” will once again cloak Sacramento schools.”
Hopefully Sec Duncan can find himself and extricate himself from this awful waiver game. The American people deserve much better than having to waste money that is intended for poor children on a failed program just because Sec. Duncan wants it his way.
SES IS A MESS: Impacts of Title I Supplemental Educational Services on Student Achievement
Impacts of Title I Supplemental Educational Services on Student Achievement: Impacts of Title I Supplemental Educational Services on Student Achievement "Impacts of Title I Supplemental Educational Services on Student Achievement" examines the potential achievement benefits of academic support services offered outside the regular school day by state-approved Supplemental Educational Service providers. As one of the parental choice provisions implemented with Title I funds under the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001, parents of low-income students in low-performing schools are offe... more »
SES IS A MESS: Duncan to Florida: Tutoring Doesn't Work - Politics K-12 - Education Week
Duncan to Florida: Tutoring Doesn't Work - Politics K-12 - Education Week: Duncan to Florida: Tutoring Doesn't Work By Alyson Klein on May 17, 2012 3:39 PM U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan said today he doesn't understand why Florida passed a law requiring districts to continue offering free tutoring to students in struggling schools. Florida is one of 11 states that got a waiver from many of the requirements of the No Child Left Behind Act. That means districts in the Sunshine State no longer have to put aside 20 percent of their Title I money for tutoring and school choice.... more »
The Education Department is for the first time yanking one of the waivers it gave to states that exempts them the most onerous parts of the flawed No Child Left Behind law. As a result, Washington state will now have to comply with all parts of No Child Left Behind. Because of the peculiarities of […]
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