Vermont Tiger: Vermont's Education Waiver

by John McClaughry
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Last Tuesday Gov. Peter Shumlin told the Vermont Board of Education that the state should request a Federal government waiver that would hold our public schools only to 2009 levels of proficiency, so that more teachers aren't penalized.

He was responding to an announcement the day before that the Obama Education department would hand out waivers to states to spare them the consequences of the Bush-Kennedy No Child Left Behind Act of 2001. That act requires schools to demonstrate adequate yearly progress or face various penalties distasteful to the Vermont-NEA teachers union, like replacing teachers.

The teachers union has raged against NCLB, as it?s known, for years. It loved the prospect of a huge inflow of federal dollars, but it has never liked linking those dollars to increasing student proficiency. When a school?s failure triggers penalties, it makes it harder for the unions to bargain for higher salaries.

Shumlin also said that he wants to come up with a standardized measurement system that better suits Vermont.? We already have a proficiency testing program called NECAP, designed specifically so our kid?s test results can?t easily be compared with any national standard. I am willing to bet that Vermont taxpayers spent over a million dollars hiring experts to concoct this measurement program.

A far better idea would be to scrap NCLB, turn back the money, use national standards, welcome the penalties for educational failure, and give our kids full choice in education.

Source: http://www.vermonttiger.com/content/2011/08/vermonts-education-waiver.html

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