Posted on by arotherham

Waiver Waivers, ESEA & 218, And Vallas!

Michele McNeil looks at what states may or may not take advantage of the new waiver waivers that Secretary of Education Arne Duncan has offered as a way to delay consequences from new teacher evaluations. The results so far: Six are in, 14 say no thanks, the remainder of the 34 states that are eligible said something to the effect of, ‘Arne, why did you put us in this spot?’ Two wrinkles here: 34 states are eligible right but now underneath that some have different timelines and some would have to change statutes to make changes so everyone is not in the same place.

While you’re at PoliticsK12 also check out Alyson Klein’s look at how tricky it might be to get to 218 votes in the House for the pending ESEA reauthorization bill. Democrats seem likely to oppose it and some Republicans will want  to vote against it, too. Given the D – R breakdown in the House that doesn’t leave a big margin for error for the majority. Update: The floor schedule for next week has it tentative.

Rick Hess takes a smart look at the Vallas fiasco in CT.  The whole episode points up the absurdity of education’s credentialing fetish but at the same time, the law is the law.

3 Replies to “Waiver Waivers, ESEA & 218, And Vallas!”

  1. Hess:
    “Do I think that someone who was superintendent of Chicago, Philadelphia and New Orleans is qualified to be a superintendent in the state of Connecticut? The answer is yes.”

    A man with a record of unmitigated failure.
    Huzzah!

  2. Another Professional Education Reformer who believes she is above the law:

    ALBANY, N.Y. (CN) – A New York City charter school operator claims the state has no right to audit it, and asked a judge to stop the state comptroller from doing so.
    Success Academy Charter Schools-NYC sued state Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli and his office and New York State, in Albany County Supreme Court.
    Success Academy claims that a 2009 ruling by New York’s highest court found the Legislature overstepped its bounds by passing legislation in 2005 that authorized the comptroller to audit charter schools.
    Despite fine-tuning in 2010 that resurrected the audits, they’re still unconstitutional, Success Academy claims.
    ……
    In his response to the Success Academy letter, DiNapoli cited a 2010 amendment to education law that said charter schools, in addition to submitting to audits by authorizing entities, “shall be subject to audits of the comptroller of the state of New York at his or her discretion.”

    http://www.courthousenews.com/2013/07/11/59266.htm

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published.