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Schools

Hopkins Schools in Holding Pattern Over No Child Left Behind Waivers

Governor Dayton is wasting no time applying for recently announced waivers, but local administrators want to see the fine print.

The No Child Left Behind Act—a 2001 education bill setting high performance standards assessed through tests—once enjoyed broad and enthusiastic bipartisan support. Yet now the initiative is barreling toward a brick wall of seemingly unachievable expectations.

As calls to reform NCLB go unanswered by Congress, the Obama Administration recently announced relief from key provisions in the law. It was an offer enthusiastically accepted by Gov. Mark Dayton who, while U.S. Senator, voted against the legislation.

“Such a waiver would allow Minnesota educators to focus on what is working in their schools,” Dayton said in a statement issued shortly after the announcement. “It would provide school boards, administrators, teachers and parents with the flexibility they need to implement the reforms the Legislature and I enacted in the recent session.”

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But would it? Details of the waiver have yet to be released.

“It all depends how the waiver is crafted,” said . “It's unknown what the state is going to have to do to get that waiver.”

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New requirements for measuring students, a different assessment system or changes in how teachers are rated could add another layer of expectation onto an already heavily burdened school system, he said.

“We tie up our computer labs in the district for two months out of the year for state tests of reading, math, and science.” Schultz said, but schools are no stranger to assessment testing. No Child Left Behind, however, set the goal of 100 percent of students (third through eighth grade) to test at grade level in reading and math by 2014.

Is that level of proficiency achievable? “No,” Schultz said. “If we had more resources to do it, could we have done it? There are a lot of variables to that.”

Whether the waivers will result in welcome changes for school administrators is up in the air right now, but Tia Clasen, marketing and communications program director for the , hopes any changes will reflect that all children are different.

“Every number on a graph represents a child with a name," she said.

Schultz said parents should remember that whatever may happen with No Child Left Behind, teachers remain the schools' greatest asset.

“Incredibly talented, engaging, creative teachers are working in our schools,” Schultz said. “It still amazes me how engaging those classes are, knowing the imposition of these measures.” 

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