Today, the State Board of Education adopted a resolution calling upon the state Legislature to resolve Washington’s status as a “high risk” state with the US Department of Education.  This designation prevents the approval of the state’s ESEA flexibility waiver – effectively blocking Washington’s eligibility for greater flexibility in how federal funds can be spent, as well as relief from the outdated regulatory requirements of the federal No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB).  Soon, nearly every school in Washington will be labeled “failing” without a waiver from the antiquated performance system established by NCLB.

The State Board of Education supports Governor Inslee’s efforts to intervene in the waiver effort and come to a resolution during the 2014 legislative session.   In addition to freeing up of approximately $44 million in federal funding for schools, the waiver enables Washington to move forward with a system of support for struggling schools that integrates the use of federal and state funding towards one common system of support for our schools.

The State Board of Education calls upon the Governor and the Legislature to seek a remedy soon so that Washington state is not left behind in this opportunity.

For more information on the topic, please read the March 3 blog post on the SBE website: https://washingtonsbe.wordpress.com/2014/03/03/vanilla-waivers/

Resolution: /sites/default/files/public/documents/resolutions/2014ESEAwaiverResolution.pdf

~Ben Rarick,
Executive Director