Dive Brief:
- On Monday, the U.S. Department of Education announced that seven states, plus the District of Columbia, would see their waivers from the Bush-era No Child Left Behind law renewed.
- The states receiving the extension, which lasts for at least three more years, are Georgia, Hawaii, Kansas, Missouri, Nevada, New York, and West Virginia.
- That list includes a mix of states that have strictly kept to the Obama administration’s vision for school reform, which includes the Common Core standards and teacher evaluations based on student test scores, and those that have struggled to stay on course. Missouri, for example, is contemplating abandoning the standards.
Dive Insight:
Most states have received a waiver exempting them from some of the strictest (and, many say, unattainable) measures of No Child Left Behind. Without the waivers, states potentially miss out on millions in federal funding and must send letters to parents to tell them their student’s school is “failing” if less than 100% of students pass reading and math tests. Few schools in the country meet that bar.
Obtaining waivers has become an important goal for states, even as it’s become clear that the process to get and keep them can prove controversial. Last year, Washington state became the first to lose its waiver after failing to pass a law tying teacher evaluations to student test scores. In the fall, Oklahoma lost and then regained its waiver over the decision to drop the Common Core standards. Just five states have opted not to participate in the waiver process, including California, Montana, and Vermont.