Opinion
Federal Opinion

The NCLB Waiver: A Common-Sense Solution

By Tony Bennett — August 22, 2011 3 min read
  • Save to favorites
  • Print

U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan embraced a federal waiver process this month that will aid states burdened by certain outdated requirements within the current version of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act. His announcement is welcome news to state schools chiefs across the nation who are ready and able to provide local solutions to the most pressing challenges our education system faces.

To be clear, congressional reauthorization of a revamped ESEA is the best option for stakeholders at the district, state, and national levels. However, in the absence of congressional action, a waiver process that rewards reform-minded states with the freedom to innovate is an absolute necessity.

The most recent reauthorization of the ESEA, the No Child Left Behind Act, was signed into law in 2002. It established accountability requirements for states, calling on all schools to demonstrate adequate yearly progress, or AYP, in student performance and all educators to meet “highly qualified teacher” requirements. NCLB’s strong focus on school accountability was a vital addition to the federal law. Yet the AYP provision often has proven itself punitive rather than supportive to schools. The requirement on highly qualified teachers has been equally ineffective—amounting to a mere demonstration of certification rather than a mark of excellent teaching.

An effective waiver process won’t sacrifice the critical accountability provisions of the ESEA to provide the support and flexibility states and localities need to drive innovation and improvement. Reform-minded states like Indiana are calling on federal leaders to set high expectations for student success and to act decisively and swiftly if we fail to meet those expectations. In between, we ask for the flexibility to develop the best systems to help all our students reach their highest academic potential.

Only states that can demonstrate a clear commitment to comprehensive structural reform and the necessary infrastructure to successfully implement reforms should receive waivers. Consider, for example, waivers for the highly-qualified-teacher requirement; states like Indiana have moved to systems more focused on student outcomes that better reflect the intent of the federal law by ensuring every child has a quality teacher. Instead of measuring teacher quality based on inputs like college preparation and qualifying exams, our state soon will use annual teacher evaluations that consider factors that include student performance and growth. The result of this shift is a more accurate and valuable measure of teacher quality.

Likewise, states that have developed richer and more useful measures of school accountability should be granted waivers for AYP. Qualifying state-level systems must include transparent labels for school performance, with measures that include not just student performance on standardized tests, but also growth in performance year to year. Further, state alternatives to the AYP requirement should put a strong focus on efforts to close the achievement gaps that persist in every state.

Across the country, states like Indiana are advancing and implementing bold education reforms that are transforming the status quo in our nation’s schools—with the promise of dramatic gains for our nation’s children. At the heart of Indiana’s reforms is a commitment to setting high expectations for student achievement while empowering educators with the flexibility they need to reach those goals.

In many ways, this state-led reform movement has blazed the trail for a federal system that operates in a similarly effective manner. States should have the freedom to innovate as long as they are willing to embrace strong and swift accountability measures. At the federal level, expectations for a waiver policy should be high and clearly defined.

This formula is working for us in Indiana, and it will work for states across the nation if implemented correctly by the current U.S. Department of Education. I look forward to working with Secretary Duncan and schools chiefs nationwide to move this process forward.

A version of this article appeared in the August 24, 2011 edition of Education Week as The NCLB Waiver: A Common-Sense Solution

Events

This content is provided by our sponsor. It is not written by and does not necessarily reflect the views of Education Week's editorial staff.
Sponsor
Reading & Literacy Webinar
The Future of the Science of Reading
Join us for a discussion on the future of the Science of Reading and how to support every student’s path to literacy.
Content provided by HMH
This content is provided by our sponsor. It is not written by and does not necessarily reflect the views of Education Week's editorial staff.
Sponsor
College & Workforce Readiness Webinar
From Classrooms to Careers: How Schools and Districts Can Prepare Students for a Changing Workforce
Real careers start in school. Learn how Alton High built student-centered, job-aligned pathways.
Content provided by TNTP
Mathematics K-12 Essentials Forum Helping Students Succeed in Math

EdWeek Top School Jobs

Teacher Jobs
Search over ten thousand teaching jobs nationwide — elementary, middle, high school and more.
View Jobs
Principal Jobs
Find hundreds of jobs for principals, assistant principals, and other school leadership roles.
View Jobs
Administrator Jobs
Over a thousand district-level jobs: superintendents, directors, more.
View Jobs
Support Staff Jobs
Search thousands of jobs, from paraprofessionals to counselors and more.
View Jobs

Read Next

Federal No 'Gender Ideology': Ed. Dept.'s New Focus for Mental Health Grants It Yanked
The Trump administration abruptly canceled $1 billion in mental health grants in April that it said reflected Biden-era priorities.
4 min read
Education Secretary Linda McMahon speaks during a Senate Appropriations hearing on June 3, 2025, on Capitol Hill in Washington.
Education Secretary Linda McMahon speaks during a Senate Appropriations hearing on June 3, 2025, on Capitol Hill in Washington. The U.S. Department of Education has revealed new priorities for two mental health grants after it abruptly canceled awards the Biden administration made.
Julia Demaree Nikhinson/AP
Federal Trump Admin. Starts Moving CTE to Labor Dept. After Supreme Court Order
The Education Department put arrangements to move some of its programs on hold while court battles over downsizing played out.
4 min read
Students make measurements to wood to add to a tiny home project during their shop class at Carrick High School in Pittsburgh, Pa., on Dec. 13, 2022.
Students make measurements to wood to add to a tiny home project during their shop class at Carrick High School in Pittsburgh, Pa., on Dec. 13, 2022. The Trump administration is shifting management of career and technical education programs to the U.S. Department of Labor now that the Supreme Court have given the go-ahead to proceed with downsizing of the U.S. Department of Education.
Nate Smallwood for Education Week
Federal Hope Shattered for Laid-Off Ed. Dept. Staff After Supreme Court Order
The Supreme Court on Monday allowed the Trump administration to proceed with 1,400 Education Department layoffs.
6 min read
Supporters hold signs and cheer Education Department employees as they leave after retrieving their personal belongings from the Education Department building in Washington on March 24, 2025.
Supporters hold signs and cheer Education Department employees as they leave after retrieving their personal belongings from the Education Department building in Washington on March 24, 2025. The Supreme Court on July 14, 2025, allowed the Trump administration to proceed with department layoffs that a lower-court judge had put on hold.
Jose Luis Magana/AP
Federal Trump Admin. Says Undocumented Students Can't Attend Head Start, Early College
The administration issued notices saying undocumented immigrants don't qualify for Head Start and some Education Department programs.
7 min read
Children play during aftercare for the Head Start program at Easterseals South Florida, an organization that gets about a third of its funding from the federal government, on Jan. 29, 2025, in Miami.
Children play during aftercare for the Head Start program at Easterseals South Florida, an organization that gets about a third of its funding from the federal government, on Jan. 29, 2025, in Miami. The Trump administration said Thursday that undocumented children are ineligible for Head Start and a number of other federally funded programs that the administration is classifying as similar to welfare benefits.
Rebecca Blackwell/AP