Today the Board approved moving forward
with our request for a waiver from some requirements of the No
Child Left Behind Act (NCLB), or the Elementary and Secondary
Education Act (ESEA). We have received feedback from hundreds of
you throughout this process and I thank you for your willingness
to work with us to shape Illinois' request.
The overarching goal of the request calls for cutting in half
achievement gaps and the percent of students not making progress
over the next six years. Each individual school and district
will have their own targets to meet, based on the individual
achievement gaps within their district or schools.
The plan also calls for the use of a Multiple Measures Index (MMI)
based on four broad categories:
1) Outcomes
2) Achievement
3) Student progress
4) Educational context
Once the MMI has been calculated, schools and districts will be
categorized into a five-star rating system that will align with
various rewards, supports or interventions. You may read the
entire proposal on our website at
http://www.isbe.net/nclb_waivers/default.htm.
There was a slight delay for some districts in their latest
General State Aid payment. The Comptroller's Office said there
was a glitch in their transferring of funds and that - for a
quarter of all GSA recipients - the payment, which normally
would have been released on the eve ning of Feb. 10, was delayed
until the following business day. The Comptroller's Office
assures us this was an unfortunate error and is not indicative
of any problems with timely GSA payment moving forward.
Finally, Governor Quinn will be introducing his FY 2013 budget
tomorrow. We will be watching it closely and comparing it to the
Board's recommendation from last month.
Have a great week.
Chris
