Burlington Free Press (Montpelier, VT)
August 10, 2011
Headline: Vermont governor wants waiver from No Child Left Behind Act

By Lisa Rathke

MONTPELIER -- Gov. Peter Shumlin wants Vermont to seek a waiver from parts of the federal No Child Left Behind Act that he says are hurting the state's schools and the ability to deliver quality education, one day after the Obama administration gave states a way out of the law.

Monday, U.S. Education Secretary Arne Duncan announced a system for states to get out of the decade-old policy by seeking waivers as long as they agree to education reforms. Shumlin asked the Vermont State Board of Education on Tuesday to work with the Education Department to develop a proposal within the next 20 days.

"Let's work together as quickly as we can to get the secretary the information that he needs to make Vermont one of the first states that gets the waivers from No Child Left Behind. It makes sense for a system that I think is failing us," Shumlin said.

He wants the state to request that it be held to the 2009 levels for testing so that more teachers aren't moved because the measurement system doesn't reflect individual students' progress.

He also wants to come up with a standardized measurement system that better suits Vermont. That could be a portfolio system that includes the New England Common Assessment Program, or NECAP test, classroom grades and some individual ability to demonstrate skill beyond the standardized test to back up that assessment system, he said.

"So let me be clear, we don't want to get rid of our assessment system and simply say, 'we trust what's happening and we don't need to measure the progress of our students,'" Shumlin said. "We want a good, a better system to measure their progress, and that system should be one that measures the individual students' progress within a classroom as opposed to having to measure all 10 students as a block if it's hypothetically a 10-person classroom."

States including Montana, Minnesota, Kentucky, Wisconsin, Virginia and Georgia also plan to file for waivers.

The Vermont Board of Education and Education Department welcomed the news.

"We are all looking to same end, which is success for all students using multiple measures. And not coming down with these draconian rules that say if you don't meet the standard we may have to fire the principal, fire teachers. There are different ways of accomplishing that and that requires support from the Department of Education."

The federal law, which requires every student to be proficient in science and math by 2014, is four years past due for reauthorization. Duncan has said that 82 percent of the country's schools would be failures next year if no changes are made.

This year, 72 percent of Vermont schools did not meet the increased standards under the law, up from 31 percent of schools last year.

The jump was caused by an increase in the targets, which go up every three years with the goal of 100 percent of students being proficient in math and science by 2014, a goal seen by school officials as unrealistic.