FYI - At the California State level there is still a debate about whether California should apply for a State Waiver for ESEA formerly NCLB. Here is a fact sheet put out by AFT in December. Please note the highlighted parts in red as they pertain to collective bargaining and school improvement requirements.
ESEA Flexibility Fact Sheet
States can request waivers from No Child Left Behind (NCLB)—the Elementary and Secondary Education
Act (ESEA)—in exchange for meeting certain requirements. For approved states, waivers will be offered
from several areas of ESEA, including adequate yearly progress and school improvement requirements.
Timing of Applications and Awards
The dates by which states have to submit applications are Nov. 14, 2011, for December peer review, and
mid-February 2012 for spring 2012 peer review. (FYI - California has missed the first deadline but still has time to submit an application)
Proposed Eligibility Requirements
To receive flexibility, a state education agency (SEA) must submit an application that addresses the
following principles and is consistent with definitions and timelines prescribed.
1. College- and Career-Ready Expectations for All Students
An SEA must demonstrate that it has college- and career-ready expectations for all students
(including for English language learners ) in the state by adopting college- and career-ready
standards in at least reading/language arts and mathematics, transitioning to and implementing
such standards statewide for all students and schools, and developing and administering annual,
statewide, aligned, high-quality assessments, and corresponding academic achievement
standards, that measure student growth in at least grades 3-8 and at least once in high school.
2. State-Developed Differentiated Recognition, Accountability and Support for Schools
An SEA must develop and implement a system of differentiated recognition, accountability and
support for all local education agencies (LEAs) in the state and for all Title I schools in these LEAs.
Systems must look at student achievement in at least reading/language arts and mathematics for
all students and all student subgroups identified in ESEA/NCLB; graduation rates for all students
and all subgroups; and school performance and progress over time, including the performance
and progress of all subgroups. They may also look at student achievement in subjects other than
reading/language arts and mathematics and, once an SEA has adopted high-quality assessments,
must take into account student growth.
Accountability systems must create incentives and include differentiated interventions and
support to improve student achievement and graduation rates and to close achievement gaps for
all subgroups, including interventions specifically focused on improving the performance of
English learners and students with disabilities.
3. Supporting Effective Instruction and Leadership
States and LEAs must commit to develop, adopt, pilot and implement, with the involvement of
teachers and principals, teacher and principal evaluation and support systems that will be used for
continual improvement of instruction; meaningfully differentiate performance using at least three
performance levels; use multiple valid measures in determining performance levels, including as
significant factors data on student growth for all students (including English learners and students
with disabilities) and other measures of professional practice (which may be gathered through
multiple formats and sources, such as observations based on rigorous teacher performance
standards, teacher portfolios, and student and parent surveys); evaluate teachers and principals on
a regular basis; and provide clear, timely and useful feedback, including feedback that identifies
needs, guides professional development and will be used to inform personnel decisions.
4. Reducing Duplication and Unnecessary Burden
SEAs should remove duplicative and burdensome reporting requirements that have little or no
impact on student outcomes.
Conditions
Collective Bargaining Protections/Teacher Involvement
There is language covering all the requirements below that stipulates: “Nothing in these principles shall be
construed to alter or otherwise affect the rights, remedies, and procedures afforded school or school district
employees under Federal, State, or local laws (including applicable regulations or court orders) or under
the terms of collective bargaining agreements, memoranda of understanding, or other agreements between
such employees and their employer.”
There is also language requiring states to explain in their application how they have received input from
various stakeholders, including teachers and their representatives.
Flexibility Offered
If states meet the above criteria, they may request flexibility through waivers of the following ESEA
provisions:
• the 2013–2014 timeline for determining adequate yearly progress (AYP)
• implementation of school improvement requirements
• implementation of LEA improvement requirements
• rural LEAs
• schoolwide programs
• support school improvement
• reward schools
• highly qualified teacher (HQT) improvement plans
• transfer certain funds
• use of school improvement grant (SIG) funds to support priority schools
• use of Twenty-First Century Community Learning Centers (21st CCLC) program funds
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