Texas to Apply for No Child Left Behind Waiver
In one of his first acts as education commissioner, Michael Williams sent a letter to school districts on Thursday announcing that the state would join the more than 30 others that have already asked for a waiver from the federal No Child Left Behind Act.
But unlike the other states, Texas is appealing under U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan's general authority to waive federal requirements rather than under a specific waiver Duncan began offering states last year. State officials have resisted applying for the second type of waiver, saying the strings attached — like the requirement that states ...
Comments (8)
tthomas48
So yet again Texas is looking to waste taxpayer money asking for special rules that apply only to them to pander to the nut-job wing of the Republican party? Fantastic.
I wish they'd try to fix the government rather than tilting at windmills all the time.
Kristina Michel via Texas Tribune on Facebook
Wait, let me get this straight: Texas wants a waiver from the Sec. Ed. on No Child Left Behind, and then it wants another waiver from the conditions of the waiver? Wow. WTG Texas! [SMH....]
Samdavis
Perry and the GOP legislature working on that all important "Every Child Left Behind" bill.
gypsy314 ne
Thank God our leaders are awake and listening to Texans on vouchers our children will have the chance they deserve. Texas will be a leader with vouchers and with our children learning. America will follow once the news is out and unions will fade and good teachers will be rewarded and bad will have to make a choice lead or get the hell out of the way.
Bonnie McGuire
This looks more like Texas politicians trying to cover their rears when it's shown that they have failed our children miserably in preparing them for the future. Is it any wonder why we're so far down the list in rankings of quality education when our politicians' egos get in the way of any help we might receive?
Alice Taylor
" Texas will be a leader with vouchers and with our children learning."
I certainly hope not. I hope Texas avoids the voucher system like the plague and I hope the public schools make sure every student has a good English teacher.
Anya Khan
Alice I disagree about vouchers, but your comment on English is spot one. Language skills are key to learning.
rachel swan
I am afraid that Texas' performance in education is more a result of lack of support from home than overall poor teaching/ education. I have three kids in Texas public Ed. I do not see how they are under performing. These kids, and teachers work very hard and, have a lot (too much) to accomplish on a daily basis. Children go to school for hours on end and still have homework, projects, reading assignments and reports. The test preparation is a constant concern and goal. We can keep bumping up requirements for districts (and there by keep pushing already burned out kids and teachers) but, until all kids are highly supported at home, it won't have much of an impact. Making the work harder, and increasing the load will create LESS support from homes who already have a tendency to not get involved in their children's education. Parenting school age children through school is a full time job and, unfortunately many parents don't pull it off. In Texas, we have many obstacles contributing to this. One being a language barrier between schools and parents. As well as, lots of rural districts who (for whatever reason) appear (at least statistically) to have less PTA involvement/ volunteers and overall community and household educational support. Until these things are addressed, the stratification between those who, "do well" and those who "don't" will only grow deeper as a result of expanding accountability / test difficulty. What are seeing is that Schools, districts and the State cannot compensate for low parental involvement.