A collaborative of California school districts known every bit the California Office to Reform Education, or CORE, plans to move forward with its awarding for a waiver from the virtually severe provisions of No Child Left Behind by the end of the calendar month, the next deadline for states to use. CORE intends to proceed with or without Gov. Jerry Brown'due south blessing or U.S. Educational activity Secretary Arne Duncan's invitation.

"We believe we will take a compelling application, given that the country has non been successful, and promise that the secretarial assistant will come across information technology that way," said Rick Miller, a consultant with Capitol Impact and executive manager of CORE.

Miller said Cadre has been in talks with both Brown's and Duncan'southward offices for a number of months and those are standing. He said they would welcome the governor'due south approval, but information technology's not essential. "The state cannot veto the waiver application, only can comment on it," Miller said.

In that location is disagreement on whether the federal education police allows individual districts to apply for waivers. During a hearing last Thursday before the U.S. Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee, Senator Lamar Alexander, R-Tennessee, pressed Duncan on the outcome, saying he believes it's non in the statute. Rather than taking a position on the legality of commune waivers, Duncan said his biggest concern is chapters. With 15,000 school districts that could potentially apply, it would be unmanageable.

"My unabridged focus right now is on states.  At the end of the month nosotros'll see who's in, who did not come in and who we're even so working with," said Duncan. So far, 34 states and the District of Columbia have received waivers. Six others haven't practical: Texas, Montana, Nebraska, Pennsylvania, Vermont and Wyoming. In a surprise turnaround, Texas announced last autumn that the country would seek a waiver, although at that place's talk that it could be more than along the lines of California'southward failed application than the one Duncan is requiring.

California isn't expected to effort once again, for now. So far, the state hasn't committed to several of the major waiver provisions includingrequiring states to develop a instructor evaluation system that includes standardized tests as one mensurate of pupil progress and identifying new categories of schools that either are struggling and need attending or excelling and deserve rewards.Instead of applying under the waiver process established by the U.S. Department of Education, California submitted a waiver request under a different section of NCLB.

In a alphabetic character to State Board of Educational activity President Michael Kirst last December denying the request, Duncan wrote, "I believe that a state must agree and be prepared to take on the rigorous reforms required by all the principles of ESEA [Elementary and Secondary Education Act, the original and current name of NCLB] flexibility in exchange for the waiver. Because California's request did non point that California intended to meet that high bar, I am declining to exercise my dominance to approve your request."

"Two heads better than one"

Fresno Unified Superintendent Mike Hanson said he understands why district waivers could be unwieldy for the U.Southward. Department of Education, but argues that CORDue east is a consortium and is therefore in a unique position to develop and execute innovative reforms that would have a sweeping impact. "The more we practise this consortium work, the more we remember consortiums are going to go on to ingather up and grow non just within the country but the state," said Hanson.

2 weeks ago, Garden Grove and Santa Ana Unified officially became members of Core, bringing information technology to x districts, which together educate near 1.ii 1000000 students or near 22 percent of the state's public school students. The other unified districts are Clovis, Fresno, Long Embankment, Los Angeles, Oakland, Sacramento, San Francisco and Sanger.

"It's very natural to seek solutions collaboratively to long-standing issues that we all face up.  It's a variation of two heads are better than one," said Hanson. Rather than seek a waiver from NCLB, he

34 states and the District of Columbia have received NCLB Waivers; others plus Puerto Rico and the Bureau of Indian Education are under review. Source: U.S. Dept. of Education. (Click to enlarge).

34 states and the District of Columbia have received NCLB waivers; others, plus Puerto Rico and the Bureau of Indian Education, are under review. Source: U.S. Dept. of Educational activity. (Click to enlarge)

said CORE is seeking to create a better system for improving student learning, and instructor development and growth. "In that location'south not one of the ten of u.s. that would back away from increased organization accountability, just we think there are improve ways to have an accountability system."

Those would include committing to building model data systems for local districts,providing more collaboration amid teachers and districts and giving districts the flexibility to use Title I funds where they're near needed. Miller said the waiver is about more than avoiding the current accountability model. "We remember we have a better plan to drive instruction and pupil improvement."

It's a position that may resonate with federal officials. Duncan told Senate commission members concluding week that NCLB was so focused on a single exam for determining whether schools are placed in Program Improvement (PI) and labeled as failures that, co-ordinate to a federal study, "xix states dummied down standards" to prevent that from happening.

"All of this is nearly protecting as many students every bit we tin can," U.S. Section of Pedagogy spokesperson Daren Briscoe told EdSource Today terminal month. "The Core districts in California include enough students to make a serious look at this worthwhile."

Reauthorization indifference

Despite the Section's enervating atmospheric condition, Duncan said he's encouraged by talks with the holdout states. "My hope, in an ideal world every state would come in by the terminate of the month. Volition that happen? I'm not sure, merely we're really in conversations with some surprising states," he told the committee with a mischievous grin.

A survey of top education leaders and policy makers by Whiteboard Advisors found nearly two-thirds don't expect Congress to take up reauthorization of NCLB until 2015. Source: Whiteboard Advisors. (click to enlarge).

A survey of height education leaders and policy makers by Whiteboard Advisors institute near 2-thirds don't expect Congress to take up reauthorization of NCLB until 2015. Source: Whiteboard Advisors. (Click to overstate)

A compelling gene may exist the sluggish footstep of reauthorization. Congress passed NCLB in 2001, and is at present 5 years behind on reauthorization. Last week, the consulting group Whiteboard Advisors released results of an bearding survey of electric current and old governors and teaching experts in the White Business firm, Congress and the Department of Instruction.

Nearly two-thirds predicted reauthorization wouldn't happen until January 2022 at the earliest. "Too much on Congress' plate and the waivers need fourth dimension to exist assessed to run across if they are functional," explained one respondent. Meanwhile, the deadline for states without waivers to have 100 percent of their students accomplish proficiency or meliorate on standardized tests is 2014, a goal that virtually officials, including Duncan, say is unreachable.

CORE'due south Miller said postponing reauthorization for another two years will "guarantee to plunge more schools and districts in PI where they will spend money not benefiting kids. It will be counterproductive to the extreme."

Number of California schools receiving federal Title I funds that are in program improvement. Source: California Dept. of Education. (Click to enlarge).

Number of California schools receiving federal Championship I funds that are in programme improvement. Source: California Dept. of Didactics. (Click to overstate).

Nigh 4,400, or 80 pct, of California's Championship I schools are already in Programme Improvement and are required to implement an escalating serial of actions including notifying parents of the school's PI status; setting bated function of their Championship I funds, which are designated to assistance depression-income students, for professiona50 development; and assuasive parents to send their children to schools that are coming together the standards.

Tom Torlakson, California'south Superintendent of Public Instruction, has said he believes the state's accountability system is more effective. In a press release last December, after learning that the Didactics Secretary would be denying California'southward waiver, Torlakson indicated that he was not going to put effort into what he described as a "flawed" federal police force.

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