Indiana receives No Child Left Behind waiver from White House

The airwaves and tubes are buzzing about the latest pronouncement from the White House. In an on-going effort to work around Congress’ attempts to stall, well, anything, the Obama administration granted ten waivers to states across the nation that promised to reform their public education systems in ways that have nothing to do with No Child Left Behind (NCLB). Indiana is one of these states. 

Before we really begin, a moment of your time for full disclosure from you to me: I approach NCLB from the opposite end most think of when it comes up. As one of those “gifted and talented” kids who were in school when NCLB was instituted, I immediately noticed the lack of attention and instruction focused on myself and my peers. We were instead mostly left to our own devices as our instructors were mandated to concentrate almost entirely on those students who were struggling (whether it was due to the kids not caring and planning to drop out as soon as they were able to start working at 16 or whether the kids just didn’t honestly understand something, it didn’t matter: they were all painted with the same brush, and so were we. Gone were the days of academic conferences and competitions; they just didn’t have the time for them any longer).

As well, up until recently I worked as a substitute teacher. I saw the ways in which educators had to twist and turn and contort themselves in order to meet both state and federal goals and somehow still find time to actually, y’know, do their jobs. I thought about becoming a teacher when I first started subbing, but then I saw the sheer amount of red tape and blanched. If I, with my rather strong constitution when it comes to paperwork and sifting through legislation and all that, had second doubts, I could only imagine how many others were turned away by the prospect.

So! As much as I loathed the prescriptions handed down through NCLB, the shackles it placed on schools and educators, the limitations imposed on students even as it tried to eliminate them, I’m understandably concerned about what’s going to replace it. Thankfully, we have Mr. Tony Bennett, our Superintendent of Schools, to address those questions for us.

In the process of applying for the waiver, Indiana had to demonstrate that it would work harder on teacher accountability and consistently increase the number of students it prepared for both college and career. One of the ways it planned to do so was passed yesterday: the new A-to-F grading system for schools (summary .pdf). It was billed as a way to make the process easier for the public to understand, and now that Indiana no longer has to worry about NCLB, schools only have to worry about one set of rules, not two.

Critics say it’s way more complex than that. After public testimony, Merrillville Community School Corporation Superintendent Tony Lux spoke with the Indiana Economic Digest:

“There were probably about 100 people there and everybody had criticisms of the formula from school teachers to parents to charters and the Indiana Chamber of Commerce. I don’t think there was any education group that supported it.”
source

He went on to say that it favored wealthier, more suburban schools in the high school metric, raising the overall grade if more students got Academic Honors diplomas and lowering the grade if students received the general diploma.

Bennett basically waved it off, saying that

“Our greatest challenge in this conversation was not to develop a bullet proof accountability system but a flexible policy that enables us to evolve as we get new inputs into the system,” State Superintendent of Public Instruction Tony Bennett said. “I think we are going to have to go back and revisit this. The flexibility of the policy will enable us to do that.”
via Journal and Courier 

I’ll be honest: I haven’t had the time to become as fully conversant on this subject as I’d like before a post. There will be more to come. For now, at least schools will be able to breathe a little easier in terms of the waiver. How the new rules will impact performance will of course remain to be seen. I feel for my former colleagues though, who, after just getting a handle on the last set of regulations passed down, will get to figure out how to sort through the newest ones before the next school year. Good luck, educators!