Thirty nine states have already signaled their intent to apply for the Department of Education's waivers from meeting the 2014 requirements of NCLB. This is not surprising as the efforts and costs to deal with the fall out from not meeting those goals would be monumental.
What seems to be lost in this is that to qualify for the waivers, a state must submit to more Federal requirements. These requirements mirror those in the Race to the Top program. 13 of the 14 jursidictions that won Race to the Top funds have indicated that they will apply. Maryland is one of the states that will apply and they are in good position to receive the waiver as most of the requirements are in place or in progress. The Baltimore Sun is reporting that Maryland will not apply in the first round.
The big problem for the 25 states that may apply for and be granted the waivers is that it becomes another unfunded mandate. A spokesman for the Pennsylvania Department of Education pointed out; “In Pennsylvania, this is viewed by many as a replacement program, not a waiver program,”
This continues to raise the question of whether this common sense on the part of Department of Education or continued over reaching of their authority.
What seems to be lost in this is that to qualify for the waivers, a state must submit to more Federal requirements. These requirements mirror those in the Race to the Top program. 13 of the 14 jursidictions that won Race to the Top funds have indicated that they will apply. Maryland is one of the states that will apply and they are in good position to receive the waiver as most of the requirements are in place or in progress. The Baltimore Sun is reporting that Maryland will not apply in the first round.
The big problem for the 25 states that may apply for and be granted the waivers is that it becomes another unfunded mandate. A spokesman for the Pennsylvania Department of Education pointed out; “In Pennsylvania, this is viewed by many as a replacement program, not a waiver program,”
This continues to raise the question of whether this common sense on the part of Department of Education or continued over reaching of their authority.
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