SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (IRN) – Illinois wants to break loose from the regulations of the No Child Left Behind Act. It requested a waiver from the federal government several months ago and continues to await a decision.
Last year only eight state school districts met the act’s standards for what’s known as adequate yearly progress, or AYP. Illinois State Board of Education spokesman Matt Vanover says the act sets all school districts to the same standards. That means a poor, underachieving district would have to meet the same standards as a wealthy, more successful one, “where you would have that low one making significant gains and raising their students’ performance by 15 to 20 points in a specific period of time and yet not making AYP,” Vanover says.
Vanover says the state is implementing its own standards that will evaluate districts individually. Ten states have been granted a waiver since the president encouraged states to seek them.
Vanover says the state should know if the federal government accepts its waiver has been accepted within a few months.
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