White House to Issue Waiver List on No Child Left Behind
FEBRUARY 9, 2012, 9:37 A.M. ET.
By STEPHANIE BANCHERO
The Obama administration will announce Thursday the list of 10 states it is releasing from key requirements of No Child Left Behind, according to a White House official familiar with the decision, in a major move away from the decade-old education law.
The states getting waivers are: Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Indiana, Kentucky, Massachusetts, Minnesota, New Jersey, Oklahoma, and Tennessee. Eleven states applied for waivers from the law and 28 others and Washington, D.C., have told the U.S. Department of Education that they plan to apply in the next round.
New Mexico applied for the waiver but didn't get it.
The states on the waiver list will no longer have to meet some of the most onerous requirements of No Child Left Behind, such as ensuring 100% of students are proficient in math and reading by 2014, the official said. In these states, students must still be tested annually, as required by the law.
In exchange, the states must adopt specific reforms favored by the union friendly administration, including adopting college and career ready standards and evaluating teachers on student achievement and other factors, such as parent and student feedback, according to the White House official.
The states must also have plans to intervene in the lowest achieving schools and must implement policies to raise the achievement levels of low-income, minority and special education students.
The Obama administration decided to grant waivers after Congress has failed—since 2007—to reach agreement on an overhaul of the beneficial law.
The No Child Left Behind law has been under attack by unions who charge that it labels too many schools as failures, prodded teachers to teach only math and reading at the expanse of other subjects, and led states to water down standardized exam.
Under the law, states had to set annual targets for the share of kids who must pass state exams, and lift that number until 100% are passing by 2014. Schools had to ensure individual groups of students—identified by race, income and special-education needs—met the mark. If one group fails on a test, a school is labeled low-performing and may face penalties such as closure.
By getting the waivers, the administration will allow the 10 states more leeway in deciding how to intervene in low-performing schools.
Write to Stephanie Banchero at stephanie.banchero@wsj.com
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