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SALT LAKE CITY — Utah will once again be exempt from portions of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act, the U.S. Department of Education announced Thursday.
It's now the third time in four years that Utah has been granted a waiver from the embattled federal education law, currently known as No Child Left Behind, which critics say puts an onerous and unrealistic burden on teachers to have every student performing proficiently.
But as lawmakers in Washington, D.C., get closer to agreeing on a replacement for No Child Left Behind, education leaders in Utah hope the final result will mean more local control over instruction and that future waivers will be unnecessary.
As the Senate began debating its version of a No Child Left Behind rewrite earlier this month, Utah State Board of Education Chairman David Crandall said it all boils down to each state's ability to decide for itself how its education system should work.
"I think a federal education law that respects the sovereignty of the states to run their own education system is just more beneficial in general, and then of course we don't have to rely on what the current administration is willing to waive," Crandall said.
Utah had the option of applying for an extension that would last up to three years, but the State School Board applied instead for a one-year waiver to allow it to react to changes in federal policy as Congress gets closer to enacting a rewrite of No Child Left Behind.
The board in its application went one step further to assert Utah's "absolute and exclusive right" to govern its education system by modifying the application, giving the state more flexibility from provisions of the federal law. Specifically, the board insisted on being able to freely modify its academic standards, assessments and educator evaluation system.
I think a federal education law that respects the sovereignty of the states to run their own education system is just more beneficial in general, and then of course we don't have to rely on what the current administration is willing to waive.
–David Crandall
Despite bold language in the application that some board members worried was risky, the U.S. Department of Education is giving Utah yet another year's exemption from No Child Left Behind, which was due for reauthorization in 2007. Utah's waiver will last through the 2015-16 school year.
"The State Board of Education is committed to maintaining state control over standards, assessment and accountability of our schools," Crandall said in a prepared statement. "We are pleased with the decision from the Department of Education to waive the obsolete requirements of No Child Left Behind while preserving our autonomy and flexibility to improve the capacity, quality and equity of public education in Utah."
This month, the U.S. House and Senate have both passed bills that would reauthorize the Elementary and Secondary Education Act. The House's version, called the Student Success Act, narrowly passed in a 218-213 vote with support from all four members of Utah's Congressional delegation, but no Democratic votes.
That bill, sponsored by Rep. John Kline, R-Minn., would increase a specific portion of Title I funding by 3 percent for improving academic performance in struggling schools. It also allows federal dollars to follow low-income children wherever they enroll, instead of keeping those dollars at struggling schools as the current law requires.
"The Student Success Act is a strong proposal to replace No Child Left Behind," Kline said. "It would eliminate dozens of ineffective and duplicative programs, repeal federal mandates dictating state spending, teacher quality, accountability and school improvement, and provide parents vital support to hold schools accountable and rescue children from underperforming schools."
The Senate bill, known as the Every Child Achieves Act and sponsored by Sen. Lamar Alexander, R-Tenn., passed last week with a wider margin of 81-17, though Utah's senators were split on the bill. Sen. Mike Lee voted against it, and Sen. Orrin Hatch sponsored an amendment that was included in the bill's final passage.
Hatch's amendment implements a "pay for success" initiative that would provide money to incentivize and expand notably successful academic turnaround programs.
"The bill we are considering will make significant improvements to the quality of education in Utah, and it will enhance the ability of our students to compete in a global economy once they enter the workforce," Hatch said. "While the nature of compromise and governing means that this bill may not be perfect in each senator's eyes, it represents an opportunity for meaningful, needed reform for Utah schools."
Both the House and Senate bills would drastically cut back on the federal government's role in various public education programs. The bills would prohibit the federal government from requiring or incentivizing states to adopt a particular set of academic standards, such as the Common Core.
Schools would continue to be required to test their students in third through eighth grades once a year in reading and math, as well as in science at least three times between grades three and 12. But states would be allowed to determine how standardized tests are used, how teachers and administrators are evaluated, and how academic improvement is driven.
The next step will involve negotiations between House and Senate leaders as they seek to merge the two bills into a workable compromise. Hatch said he was confident lawmakers will reach consensus and that his amendment would be a "key component" in the final bill because of the broad support it received in the Senate.
"Our education reform efforts received overwhelming bipartisan support in the Senate, and I will continue to work to further restore education decision-making authority to local leaders, teachers and parents," he said.
