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Three more states — Alaska, Hawaii and West Virginia — have been awarded so-called “waivers” from some of the key provisions of the federal education law known as No Child Left Behind (NCLB).
But there’s still no news on the fate of LAUSD’s application, or whether the state will try and get a statewide waiver.
*UPDATE: The state Department of Education has issued a statement that it will not be applying for a waiver. (See below.) The coalition representing LAUSD says that it plans to re-submit its application early next week.
The Obama administration’s waiver program is intended to provide relief from some of NCLB’s more onerous accountability and funding requirements, while still maintaining protections for low-income and minority students.
Fives states — including California — have either held off on applying for the waiver or withdrawn their applications, according to the Associated Press.[There is some disagreement between the state and Washington over whether California formally applied, according to the LA Times‘ Howard Blume.]
In the meantime, LAUSD and several other districts have created a consortium named California Office to Reform Education (CORE) and applied for their own waiver, which is currently under review by the US Department of Education. “The Department will continue its consideration of a separate request for waivers from the CORE districts in California,” according to the US Department of Education.
Several other states — Alabama, Illinois, Iowa, Maine, New Hampshire, Pennsylvania, Texas and Wyoming — have applications pending. Read the Associated Press story here.
*CADOE Statement: “Despite consultations with the U.S. Department of Education in recent weeks, California will not be submitting an additional request for a waiver of federal requirements under the No Child Left Behind Act at this time.
“While California’s efforts to improve its education system continue to move forward, including implementation of the Common Core State Standards and the modernization of our assessment and accountability systems, the standards for obtaining a federal waiver remain difficult to meet for a state committed to local flexibility and decision-making.”