State Superintendent Randy Dorn announced that the U.S. Department of Education has granted Washington’s waiver request from Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA) requirements. Washington is one of 26 states that have received waivers from ESEA to date.

“This decision is welcome news that gives our state the opportunity to implement bold reforms around standards and accountability,” Dorn said. “It allows state and local educators to decide how to best meet the individual needs of students they serve. Current ESEA law is written in a way that narrowly defines ‘success’ based mainly on standardized test scores.”

While Dorn acknowledged the importance of test scores as a component in ensuring accountability, he stated that getting kids to be career and college ready requires much more. Schools need to be serving their students and communities in areas like school environment and access to rigorous coursework, as well as providing a well-rounded education that will lead to success in a knowledge-based economy.

Dorn emphasized that receiving the waiver was a team effort.

“Gov. Chris Gregoire and Sen. Patty Murray deserve a lot of credit,” he said. “Both were great public advocates for our application.”

“I couldn’t be more pleased with today’s announcement,” Gov. Gregoire said. “We worked tremendously hard to earn this waiver — working closely with our partners at the local, state and the federal levels.

“This waiver provides our school districts with the necessary flexibility to improve student learning based on the students’ and their community’s needs. And it recognizes the collaborative efforts the state undertook to reform teacher and principal evaluations, culminating in the passage of ESSB 5895 this session. Congratulations to all those who worked tirelessly to secure this waiver.”

The waiver request rested on three principles:

Common Core State Standards (CCSS): Dorn has worked extensively with stakeholder groups to develop the state’s approach to implementing CCSS English language arts and mathematics. He formally adopted CCSS on July 14, 2011. The expertise and perspectives of teachers and administrators are critical to the state’s efforts to effectively and fully implement the CCSS by 2013-14.

Accountability System and Index: While federal requirements limit tracking and reporting data from state assessments to reading and math, along with graduation rates and other indicators for non-high schools, Washington has long been committed to evaluating school performance more broadly. The revised index will include both proficiency on multiple content areas and student growth data to provide a clearer and more equitable evaluation of school and district performance over time.

Teacher/Principal Evaluation: The new evaluation system holds educators accountable and provides a framework for meaningful professional growth. This system, built on the foundation of the new teacher and principal criteria and developed by Washington state educators, provides a direction that will empower teachers, principals and district leaders to meet the needs of students in Washington. The new evaluation system sets high expectations for what teachers and principals should know and be able to do, values diversity and fosters a high commitment to teaching and leading as professional practice.

School districts will see the results of the waiver immediately. Before the waiver was granted, districts had been required to set aside a statewide total of roughly $34 million in their budgets to pay for outside service providers with little accountability. Now that Washington has received the waiver, districts will be allowed to spend that money in ways they determine most appropriate, within ESEA Title I rules.

Some say that while helpful to districts, the waiver is only the first step to a more permanent solution. That opinion was echoed by U.S. Sen. Patty Murray, who said:

“This is great news for our schools. ESEA isn’t working for students across America, and the fact that so many states need waivers highlights that fact clearly. I am going to keep working hard in the Senate to reauthorize and reform our federal education law so it works for Washington state.”