Click to return to the home page.
Sunday, September 11, 2011
OWH: Nelson letter presses for ed waiver

By Joseph Morton
WORLD-HERALD BUREAU

(Pullout quote with photo of Sen. Nelson): "I hope your agency will reflect on the structural hurdles being faced by Nebraska and other rural states, and thoroughly consider the wisdom of compelling states to enact one-size-fits-all regulations similar to those from which the administration is proposing relief," Sen. Ben Nelson wrote in his recent letter.

WASHINGTON — A set of new federal education requirements won't be released for a couple of weeks, but Nebraska officials already are making the case for giving the state more flexibility in meeting them.

U.S. Sen. Ben Nelson, D-Neb., recently wrote to U.S. Education Secretary Arne Duncan asking him to give states such as Nebraska a break.

"I hope your agency will reflect on the structural hurdles being faced by Nebraska and other rural states, and thoroughly consider the wisdom of compelling states to enact one-size-fits-all regulations similar to those from which the administration is proposing relief," Nelson wrote.

At issue are the requirements laid out under the nearly 10-year-old No Child Left Behind, some of which automatically ratchet up every year until arriving at what are widely viewed as impossible levels. Congress has been working on an overhaul of the law but still has a lot to work out before sending a bill to the president's desk.

With that in mind, Duncan has agreed to waive certain requirements of the law in exchange for meeting other criteria the administration sees as reforms. Those criteria should be released later this month.

But the administration has already signaled that it will use as a starting point some of the same criteria included in its Race to the Top initiative, said Roger Breed, Nebraska education commissioner.

"Nebraska fails on those pretty significantly," Breed said.

For example, the administration wants to see states using charter schools, but Nebraska has no charter school provisions.

Nebraska also has not adopted "common core" standards developed for K-12 math and English. In some areas, the state is pursuing alternatives to the requirements but does not expect to have anything in place in time to count for the waivers.

If a state does not receive a waiver, then it will have to follow the existing law. If it can't live up to those requirements, the repercussions include a cutoff of millions in federal funds and fewer resources for public education in the state.

"There's a lot of moving pieces in this huge game of Stratego," Breed said.

A Senate Democratic aide suggested that states should wait to see the waiver criteria before guessing whether they can meet them.

"While Secretary Duncan has said that waivers will be offered as part of a package in exchange for reforms, until the actual details of the package are released, it would be premature to judge how any state will fare," she said.

Iowa is keeping an eye on the situation, as well.

More Iowa schools failed to meet state goals last year under No Child Left Behind, according to a recent report.

Staci Hupp, spokeswoman for the Iowa Department of Education, said the state would like to see some changes to No Child Left Behind but is taking a wait and see attitude toward the waivers.

The Nebraska State Education Association, meanwhile, said that No Child Left Behind has been an obstacle course with moving hurdles ever since it was enacted and that rather than having states applying for short-term waivers, Congress needs to just sit down and overhaul the entire law.

"I don't really think that (waivers) would benefit our state," NSEA President Nancy Fulton said. "It's not going to help right the bad law. It needs to be fixed."

###

Search:   Issues, Economy, Education, Taxes, Nelson in the News