Mass. will seek ‘No Child’ waiver, saying rules mark schools unfairly

September 28, 2011|By James Vaznis, Globe Staff

MALDEN - Massachusetts is joining a growing number of states in seeking a waiver from an unpopular provision of the federal No Child Left Behind Act that has cast hundreds of schools in a harsh light, a top state education official announced yesterday.

Mitchell Chester, commissioner of elementary and secondary education, said the requirement that 100 percent of students be “proficient’’ on state exams by 2014 - a key part of the federal act - has lost credibility as an increasing number of schools and districts fail to demonstrate yearly progress in getting more students to perform at that level.

More than 80 percent of the state’s schools and more than 90 percent of districts missed proficiency targets on the Massachusetts Comprehensive Assessment System exams last spring that the state established under the federal law.

An accountability system that potentially paints so many schools and districts unfavorably - including many with long records of high performance - “flies in the face of common sense’’ and “invites cynicism,’’ Chester told the state Board of Elementary and Secondary Education at its monthly meeting yesterday.

He said that he would move aggressively in meeting a November deadline to file a waiver with the Department of Education and that he would seek advice from a range of leaders in developing the waiver application. Any changes would not affect the requirement that students in Grades 3 through 8 and Grade 10 must take the MCAS each year.

“I think we are well positioned and well advised to move quickly on this,’’ Chester said.

The odds of obtaining the waiver seem good. The Obama administration has said states can qualify if they sign on to the president’s education agenda, which Massachusetts did last year when it won $250 million from President Obama’s Race to the Top fund, a competitive grant program.

Yesterday’s announcement generated a mix of jubilation and condemnation.

“I think it’s a good idea,’’ said Paul Dakin, superintendent of Revere schools, which have been struggling under the federal law. “We have the strongest schools in the country, as measured by national tests, but 82 percent of our schools are deemed as failing under [the federal law] - something is wrong with the yardstick we are using.’’

Thomas Scott, executive director of the Massachusetts Association of School Superintendents, said filing a waiver was a “no-brainer.’’

But some education advocates, particularly those with ties to the business community, warned that a waiver would represent a step backward from the state’s long tradition of rigorous academic standards and holding schools accountable for student achievement.