States like Kansas hoping Dept. of Education lays off No Child Left Behind enforcement

After two attempts to receive waivers from the federal government over public school accountability requirements were turned down, the state of Kansas is hoping to submit a third request in a more amicable regulatory environment.

Secretary of the U.S. Department of Education Arne Duncan made waves over the weekend announcing he would pursue alternatives to enforcement of No Child Left Behind (NLCB) as Congress shows few signs of reauthorizing the complex law, raising suspicions he will allow states to bow out of meeting this year’s level of student proficiency.

Kansas Education Commissioner Dr. Diane DeBacker told The American Independent her state was not trying to wiggle out of its regulatory responsibilities, instead asking the Dept. of Education if the state could meet 2009-2010 standards. The success of a state is measured by Adequate Yearly Progress, which stipulates the current grade level must do better than the previous year’s grade on state standardized states or face financial penalties and later outright school closure. While she has yet to hear from Sec. Duncan’s office on what steps to pursue, her state will follow that process once it is laid out.

While many schools have improved student test scores, the increases have not been fast enough to keep up with the specific benchmarks set in place onward to 100 percent national proficiency in math and reading by 2013-2014, as laid out by NLCB. Poverty plays a central role in lagging student performance. According to the Census Bureau, in 2009 (PDF) nearly 20 percent of Americans are at 125 percent of the federal poverty level, which stands at just above $22,000 for a family of four.

Repeatedly, Sec. Duncan had asked leading members of both chambers of Congress to pass a new iteration of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act, the original 1965 law that was altered by President George W. Bush and a bipartisan Congress to become NLCB. Over the years, the 2002 law has become increasingly onerous to states with its one-size-fits all model, punishing schools that make yearly gains but at an insufficient level.

In public announcements, the secretary would only state he was seeking to grant“regulatory” flexibility to states. Earlier today, a press release quoting Sec. Duncan assaying:

“Despite our shared sentiment for reform and our long-standing proposal to reshape No Child Left Behind, the law remains in place, four years after it was due for reauthorization. Our children get only one shot at an education and they cannot wait any longer for reform. We must fix No Child Left Behind, not in Washington time, but in real people time.”

On Sunday he wrote in a Politico piece that, “If Congress does not complete work on reauthorization soon, we will be prepared with a process that will enable schools to move ahead with reform in the fall.”

Kristen Amundson, a former Virginia state representative and Fairfax County school board chair who is now communications manager at the influential policy group Education Sector, said in an interview with TAI states should be closer to full proficiency, but when the law was drafted over a decade ago, “2014 seemed far away.”

She explains the Obama administration has begun to move away from NLCB’s core enforcement mechanism, using the Race To The Top initiative to encourage schools to continuously improve their educational services while targeting the worst performing programs in the form of competitive grants. That approach has not been without criticism either, as RTTT prescribes personnel changes and school closures for schools in the worst five percent range.

While the secretary has publicly said without reauthorization of NLCB, over 80 percent of U.S. schools will be deemed failing, Amundson feels that is too high a number. Still, a large number of schools face a maelstrom of unfair punishment, ranging from offering free tutoring to all low-performing students or personnel dismissal.

“If you have schools with a high rate of poverty and many students with English as a second language, and it is making great strides [given these circumstances] … a 100 percent proficiency level is a blunt instrument,” that does not recognize the improvements already made, Amundson said.

But while granting the waivers will be popular in all states, it could be seen as “pre-empting the Congress,” she said.

On Friday, NPR quoted Senate Education Committee Chairman Tom Harkin [D-Iowa] as saying, “It seems premature at this point to take steps outside the legislative process that would address NCLB’s problems in a temporary and piecemeal way.”

Commissioner DeBacker made it clear NLCB prescribes unrealistic goals, and that she hopes a more comprehensive growth-focused approach to education standards on the federal level is in the works. Her state is also ushering in Common Core Standards, a more rigorous standard of knowledge attainment coordinated by the National Governors Association Center for Best Practices (NGA Center) and the Council of Chief State School Officers (CCSSO). “Common Core moves beyond where [NLCB] can take states,” she said.