OK, so the US Dept of Education has carried out its threat and pulled Washington state’s NCLB/Race to the Top waiver because the state legislature refused to require the use of student test scores in its new teacher/principal evaluation protocols. So, what does that mean? At first glance, it means two things.
One, school districts across the state will lose the flexibility to spend some portion of their federal grant moneys as they wish. Some of those funds must now be spent as prescribed by the Dept. of Education. The beneficiaries of that requirement are private contractors who provide support services for students outside of the school day and often outside of the school buildings. School district staff members, who have been providing those services, will either be reassigned or may even be let go. Looking at the data on how successful these private contractors have been in reaching the goals they advertise, we see a pretty bleak picture. So, it’s unclear if students will benefit from this or not. But, that’s now the law and the law must be obeyed.
Find out what's happening in Woodinvillefor free with the latest updates from Patch.
Two, schools across the state, which have been unable to meet the “Annual Yearly Progress” requirements of NCLB for any subgroup of their student populations, will now be labeled as “needing improvement” or “failing”. According to NCLB, 2014 is the year all schools must have all students at grade level. There is substantial debate whether or not that goal is statistically achievable. Many say it was deliberately set (and unachievable statistically) so that reformers who promote privatization will be able to point to the “failure” of the public schools and gain a greater share of the public education allocations. Those privatization forces have a mixed record of success, with most of it on the down side. But, that’s now the law and the law must be obeyed.