Late last week President Obama announced
his plans to allow states to seek waivers to the federal No
Child Left Behind (NCLB) or the Elementary and Secondary
Education Act (ESEA). It is very likely that we will seek a
waiver to NCLB. Philosophically we support the broad principles
that have been outlined thus far, but we really do need to see
the details and determine the type of flexibility for which we
would be eligible, as well as, any and all requirements that
need to be put in place by the State and school districts in
exchange for such flexibility.
I was at the White House when the President made his
announcement, and he made it clear that the goals for ESEA will
remain high. He stressed the need to have rigorous standards to
challenge students and educators alike to increase America's
global competitiveness. Many of you are aware that som e feel
that the President has overstepped his authority and is trying
to circumvent the Congress to modify existing law through the
waiver process. My preference remains a newly authorized ESEA;
however, short of reauthorization I believe we must explore a
waiver opportunity.
The U.S. Department of Education (USED) has outlined areas
specifically in which they want to move education through the
waiver process, which include requiring states seeking waivers
to:
- Adopt college and career ready
standards and assessments;
- Develop a new generation of
accountability, recognition and support systems; and
- Improve evaluation of principal and
teacher effectiveness.
I believe that Illinois is well-positioned
to receive a waiver. USED has said that waivers will be
available in several areas, but most notably we would have the
ability to seek flexibility from: the 2013-14 requirement of 100
percent of students meeting and exceeding state standards;
district and school improvement requirements; and additional
uses of federal funds.
We have received more than 550 responses to our survey (http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/ESEAWaivers)
seeking input from the field as to where you would like to see
changes in ESEA. I encourage you to continue to provide input in
response to that survey instrument for the next couple of weeks,
as we receive additional guidance from the USED. So f ar, your
responses have tracked very closely with the flexibilities that
are being offered. More than half of you have said that you
favor flexibility for a new accountability model, which is more
realistic based on student growth and you also favor additional
flexibility to utilize Title I funds for more school-wide
activities.
We will be working with the USED staff over the next couple of
weeks to better understand the waiver process and we will also
continue to analyze the applications to determine what will be
required from the state and districts if we do seek a waiver so
that we know what our options are and how it will impact our
students and educators here in Illinois.
Have a good week.
Chris
