DENVER State school leaders will ask the Obama administration for a waiver from the controversial No Child Left Behind Act, which set up a nationwide system of standardized testing of students.
But Colorado leaders are not trying to lower the standards for schools, said Keith Owen, associate commissioner of the Department of Education.
We are actually in a position to have a better accountability system than the federal system, and we can demonstrate that, said Owen, the former superintendent of Durango School District 9-R.
Currently, schools have to meet two sets of standards state and federal that do not always match. Some schools can pass one standard and fail another.
The result is confusion, as well as extra paperwork and expense, especially for smaller schools, Owen said.
The No Child Left Behind Act was one of the highest priorities for former President George W. Bush. But teachers and administrations chafed under its requirement that students show adequate yearly progress on standardized tests.
The act calls for every student in the United States to pass the tests by 2013 a goal educators say will not be met.
Colorado leaders want to replace the adequate yearly progress rule with the states own standard, which requires 10th-graders to be on track to score well on tests, and high school graduates to demonstrate their readiness for college or the workforce, Owen said.
The state board of education gave its blessings to the waiver bid Wednesday.
Board Vice-chairwoman Marcia Neal said the state has an excellent plan, but she worried that Coloradans would think the schools are trying to tear down the accountability system.
We need to be very clear: Yes, we do want to do it, and we will do it in a better way, Neal said.
As part of the waiver application, Colorado wants to redirect $26 million in federal aid to pay for a new accountability system for teachers.
The Legislature passed a controversial law in 2010 that will reward teachers with tenure based on their students performance, not seniority. But lawmakers provided no money to implement the system.
President Barack Obama wanted to rewrite the No Child Left Behind Act this year, but his bid never got off the ground as Congress became paralyzed by fights over the national budget and debt.
So in August, the Obama administration invited states to apply for waivers to the law.
State leaders are unclear about exactly how the waivers will work, but they hope to have the application in by mid-October, with approval from the U.S. Department of Education by the end of the year.
State Board of Education members expressed concern that the waivers would be only temporary, and Colorado would face yet another new standard in a couple of years.
Board Chairman Bob Schaffer said he never liked No Child Left Behind, but at least it set high standards. Now, states want to move the goalposts when the deadline to comply is almost here, he said.
Schaffer asked for some assurances that these targets are not going to move when it becomes apparent that some districts cannot meet them.
If the federal government approves the waiver, teachers and principals will start to notice the change before the next school year, Owen said.
Reach Joe Hanel at [email protected].
