Idaho close to getting No Child Left Behind waiver

LEWISTON (AP) - Idaho is close to receiving a waiver under the No Child Left Behind Act, Idaho Superintendent of Public Instruction Tom Luna said.

But Luna said the bottom 15 percent of schools will still be held accountable under the law.

"The waiver is not a waiver away from accountability," he said. "What it actually does is it gives Idaho and other states an opportunity to move to a higher level of accountability."

Luna made his comments Thursday at the end of a two-day meeting of the State Board of Education at Lewis-Clark State College.

Idaho was among a handful of states that vowed earlier this year to ignore the latest No Child Left Behind requirements, saying they set unrealistic benchmarks.

Luna was among state school officers who were at the White House last month as President Barack Obama and U.S. Education Secretary Arne Duncan gave states guidance on the 9-year-old federal law. Decrying the state of American education, Obama said states will get unprecedented freedom to waive basic elements of the sweeping Bush-era No Child Left Behind law, calling it an admirable but flawed effort that has hurt students instead of helped them.

Under the plan Obama outlined, states can ask the Education Department to be exempted from some of the law's requirements if they meet certain conditions, such as imposing standards to prepare students for college and careers and setting evaluation standards for teachers and principals. Luna said that the state is well positioned to get the waiver.

"Because of the laws we've passed last year, it puts Idaho in the right spot in order to quickly receive the opportunity to have an accountability system that is aligned to Idaho's goals and what Idaho needs," he said.

To get the waiver, states must still meet certain requirements. Those include expanding the use of technology, expanding college credits, and putting in place incentives and awards for schools and teachers.

Also, a portion of the evaluations for teacher performance will be based on student achievement, and comments from parents must be a part of the evaluations.

Luna said that if the state gets the waiver, it will have to work on the 15 percent of schools performing the worst. Luna said the 15 percent would be separated into the 5 percent of schools performing at the lowest level, and 10 percent that have a large gap in test results compared to other schools.