SEATTLE — Washington state education officials are keeping their options open as to whether to apply for a waiver to the federal education law known as No Child Left Behind.
Education department spokesman Nate Olson said the key is figuring out if Washington would meet the federal requirements for a waiver and whether the Legislature needs to take some action first.
Washington updated its intentions toward No Child Left Behind in an email Wednesday to the U.S. Department of Education, saying it would make its decision known by the mid-February 2012 due date.
Even so, the state is now counted by the federal government as one of 37 states, plus the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico, that have declared their intent to apply for a waiver from key requirements of the unpopular law.
Superintendent Randy Dorn said what Washington and other states really need is for Congress to come up with a better education law to replace No Child Left Behind.
“This is kind of a Band-Aid. We don’t need Band-Aids any more. We need something different,” Olson said.
President Barack Obama offered the waivers after also expressing frustration with Congress’ inability to revise the law.
The key provision that every state would like to see disappear requires that every child be proficient in math and reading by 2014. With a waiver, states would no longer need to meet that deadline.
Washington state would need a miracle or a new federal law to not miss that target, since at least 39 percent of the children in any grade are still flunking the statewide math test used to determine if kids are meeting the requirements of No Child Left Behind. They are doing much better in reading, but still not at 100 percent proficiency.
The waivers would also allow states to escape some restrictions on how they use school improvement dollars; spending requirements for dollars aimed at low-income schools could be eased; and other school accountability requirements could be waived or eased.
But before Washington can apply for a waiver, the state needs to make sure it meets four requirements established by the U.S. Department of Education. Olson said Washington is OK on at least two of the four.
Each state needs college and career ready standards and tests aligned to those standards. “We feel that we have that,” he said.
They need a rigorous state accountability system, based largely on the principals expressed in a new nationwide curriculum system. Washington has adopted what is called the “Common Core” standards and leads a coalition working on developing new nationwide tests. But Olson says it’s not entirely clear to state officials which accountability system the federal government is referring to in this criteria. Washington has several and each is a little different.
Each state is required to commit to design, pilot and implement a system of teacher and leader evaluation “based significantly on student growth measures.” Washington is in the middle of designing and piloting new teacher and principal evaluation systems in districts around the state, but the state is still measuring itself against the implications of this requirement.
Criteria No. 4 says the state is required to commit to reducing reporting and paperwork requirements for schools and districts and a bill to do that was passed by the 2011 Legislature.
State officials are hoping they can watch and learn from the 17 states applying for waivers by Nov. 14, which is the first possible deadline, so they can find out the answers to most of their questions.
“I think the real issue right now is hinging on whether legislative action is going to be required,” Olson said.
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