The U.S. Department of Education has told the Seattle school district that it cannot get its own waiver from the mandates of the No Child Left Behind Act.
Washington state became the first to lose its NCLB flexibility more than a year ago because the state didn’t require districts to incorporate state test scores into its teacher-evaluation system. In applying for the federal leeway, Seattle argued that its district-level system should pass federal muster, since its evaluation does require state test scores to be part of the picture.
But because federal officials and policymakers in Washington state haven’t given up hope that the state can get its waiver back, Seattle’s bid was denied. District waivers are only supposed to be for school systems whose states have essentially given up on the flexibility.
