Politics & Government
Education Department Working Flat Out to Finish Federal Waiver
Critics contend too little time taken to gather public input on No Child Left Behind waiver application
The Christie administration is scrambling to complete a proposal to the federal government that would essentially remake how New Jersey grades and monitors its public schools.
But in the rush to complete its waiver to the No Child Left Behind Act, the state is being accused of skimping on a critical aspect of the application: public input. It also has frustrated some critics who say the Department of Education hasn't shared enough information about what will be in the waiver application.
With five days to go to next Monday's deadline, the department yesterday accepted the last of the public testimony before it will formally submit its waiver application, which will lay out a system of tiered grading and interventions for public schools.
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More than 200 individuals and organizations have weighed in through private meetings and online comment. These range from parents and businesspeople to the state's largest teachers union, representing 200,000 members.
The New Jersey Education Association (NJEA) has been at the table almost every step of the way, raising concerns but also appreciative of Gov. Chris Christie's invitation after what has been a rocky relationship.
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"I'd say the meetings have been positive, productive, and cordial even," said Vince Giordano, the union's executive director.
Still, Giordano said he has had his issues, and others have called the process way too rushed. The Education Law Center (ELC), the Newark advocacy group that led the landmark Abbott v. Burke litigation, suggested the state wait for the next round of applications so as to gain more public input.
"Such far-reaching plans deserve more careful legislative review and fuller public examination than the department has provided for," wrote David Sciarra, director of the ELC, in a letter to acting commissioner Chris Cerf.
"The Department's selective private conversations with an unknown number of 'stakeholders' and 'community members' are not a substitute for transparent public review of such significant proposals," Sciarra noted.
