Delegates hear of CORE’s NCLB waiver request
Published: June 1, 2013
Architects of the groundbreaking request for a federal waiver from some of the more detrimental requirements of the No Child Left Behind Act have invited all local educational agencies in California to participate in their reform plan for systemic school improvement.
Speaking to members of CSBA’s Delegate Assembly in Sacramento last month, Rick Miller, former deputy state schools superintendent and now executive director of the California Office to Reform Education, said he is optimistic that federal education officials will approve its waiver application, which would release participating LEAs from some of NCLB’s harsher components.
CORE is a coalition of 10 school districts—including Los Angeles, Sacramento City and San Francisco Unified—which collectively serve more than 1 million students.
“We weren’t getting any guidance from the state, so we did this on our own,” Miller told delegates, who met in Sacramento for their twice-yearly Assembly May 18-19.
CORE members agree to implement strict new accountability measures that the coalition believes have the potential to dramatically improve student achievement. The waiver would give participating districts flexibility over 20 percent of Title I funds that had been earmarked for certain NCLB requirements.
CORE has invited all school districts and charter schools in the state to participate in the waiver plan. Miller told delegates that CORE has had encouraging talks with federal education officials, and he said his group will consider their counsel in revising its application.
“We’re extraordinarily excited,” Miller said.
As part of CORE’s waiver plan, participating LEAs must agree to a list of conditions, including “fully transitioning” to the Common Core State Standards and administering aligned assessments by 2014-15. Detailed background information about the coalition and its waiver plan are posted on the CORE website, along with instructions for districts interested in participating in the waiver.
They’ll have to collect “enormous amounts of data” about how students are doing, Miller said; schools that are seen to be struggling will be paired with others that are doing better. “There will be no sanctions, no hammer,” Miller said, only a shared commitment to finding out what works and implementing successful strategies.
“It’s not a top-down system,” he said. “It’s us working together.”
Details on CORE’s waiver request are available on the group’s website: http://coredistricts.org/core-esea-waiver.