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By Richard O Jones, Staff Writer 8:17 PM Thursday, February 9, 2012

As President Barack Obama prepared to announced a plan Thursday to give 10 states flexibility from the mandates of No Child Left Behind Act, Republicans introduced legislation to revise some of the law’s controversial provisions.

The President said the education act, which was originally signed at Hamilton High School in 2002, is driving the wrong behaviors, from teaching to the test to federally determined, one-size-fits-all interventions.

“After waiting far too long for Congress to reform No Child Left Behind, my administration is giving states the opportunity to set higher, more honest standards in exchange for more flexibility,” Obama said.

Before the president could make the official announcement, however, U.S. House Rep. John Kline, R-Minnesota, introduced two pieces of legislation to reform portions of the law.

The Student Success Act and the Encouraging Innovation and Effective Teachers Act will replace accountability provisions known as Adequate Yearly Progress with state-developed accountability systems, roll back antiquated federal teacher mandates in favor of local teacher evaluation systems, and grant state and local leaders enhanced flexibility in the use of federal funds, issues that are addressed in Obama’s waivers.

“The administration’s waiver scheme provides just enough temporary relief to quiet the demand for lasting reform,” Kline said.

Last fall, state departments of education were given an opportunity to apply for the waivers. Eleven states applied and 28 other states, along with the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico, indicated their intent to seek waivers.

The 10 states approved for flexibility are Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Indiana, Kentucky, Massachusetts, Minnesota, New Jersey, Oklahoma, and Tennessee, and the administration said it is working with New Mexico, the eleventh state that requested flexibility in the first round, to come up with a suitable plan.

Patrick Gallaway, spokesman for the Ohio Department of Education, said that Ohio’s proposal for NCLB waivers are due Feb. 21.

“We did not immediately apply because we wanted to take the necessary measures to fully vet all of the various stakeholders and determine what areas we would be looking for flexibility on,” he said. “We have 614 school districts and more than 350 community charter schools, so there is a lot to be considered.”

The state’s proposal includes strategies for revamping the rating system for the schools and changing some of the factors that go into it, and how to make applying for Title I funds simpler.

Gallaway said that the ODE could know by April if the proposal has been accepted, but “it’s really hard to tell on these things.”

Hamilton City Schools spokeswoman Joni Copas said the district has supported the spirit of NCLB, but it has also supported the state’s decision to ask for a waiver and give the schools a little more flexibility.

“I tried to take the spirit of the bill, the idea that all kids are important and that we have a responsibility to move each child forward,” said Hamilton Superintendent Janet Baker. “But there are some things in it, like achieving 100 percent proficiency, that are admirable, but not realistic.”

According to the White House, states approved for the current round of waivers no longer have to meet 2014 targets set by NCLB to have every child testing at grade level in math and reading, one of the more controversial provisions of the law, but they must set new performance targets for improving student achievement and closing achievement gaps.

They also must have accountability systems that recognize and reward high-performing schools and those that are making significant gains, while targeting rigorous and comprehensive interventions for the lowest-performing schools. Under the state-developed plans, all schools will develop and implement plans for improving educational outcomes for under-performing subgroups of students. State plans will require continued transparency around achievement gaps, but will provide schools and districts greater flexibility in how they spend Title I federal dollars.

The No Child Left Behind Act was the second reauthorization of the 1965 Elementary and Secondary Education Act. The first reauthorization was the Improving America’s Schools Act of 1994.

A third reauthorization was due in 2007, but the law’s controversial provisions and the partisan acrimony in Washington has put a full reauthorization on the back burner. Some of the laws provisions were revised in the American Recovery and Investment Act of 2009, which created the Race to the Top program that provided $4.35 million in grants.

Contact this reporter at (513) 820-2188 or rjones@coxohio.com.

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