10 states receive NCLB waivers, Utah eyes second round

SALT LAKE CITY — Ten states were granted relief from No Child Left Behind on Thursday and Utah is among 28 others seeking similar waivers.

President Obama announced that 10 states — Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Indiana, Kentucky, Massachusetts, Minnesota, New Jersey, Oklahoma and Tennessee — had been approved for flexibility from some mandates of the 10-year-old federal education law in exchange for bold reforms on the state level and a commitment to raise educational standards and improve accountability.

Utah has applied for and received waivers to certain requirements of NCLB in the past. But Judy Park, superintendent on Federal Programs for the State Office of Education, said that those waivers did not approach the scope of what is currently being offered to states.

"This waiver allows the state to no longer be held to some pretty strong and severe requirements," Park said.

Notably, the waivers allow flexibility in determining Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP) which, through a series of annually escalating criteria, has received widespread criticism for placing too heavy a burden on even the best performing schools. In 2014, AYP standards call for 100 percent student proficiency to avoid being labled as a failing school but states receiving flexibility waivers will be released from that requirement.

"After waiting far too long for Congress to reform No Child Left Behind, my administration is giving states the opportunity to set higher, more honest standards in exchange for more flexibility," President Obama said in a prepared statement that accompanied the announcement.

Utah's request, which was approved Feb. 3 by the State Office of Education, lists Common Core Standards, a new state board rule outlining teacher and administrator evaluation requirements and a new system for grading Utah schools as among the steps the state has taken to position itself for waiver eligibility, according to documents provided by office spokesman Mark Peterson.

Under the school grading system, each school would receive a letter grade, release an annual report of summary data as well as specific results in categories such as ethnicity, economically disadvantaged, English language learners and students with disabilities.

In a conference call held Thursday with members of the press, U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan and Cicilia Muñoz, director of the White House Domestic Policy Council, spoke of the reforms underway in the participating states and criticized the failure of Congress to address the failures of No Child Left Behind.

"We can't wait any longer for Congress to act," Muñoz said. "Children can't wait. Teachers can't wait."