The Washington Teachers’ Union is asking — nay, “imploring” -— Mayor Vincent Gray to apply for a waiver to avoid the “onerous” requirements of No Child Left Behind.
In a letter to Gray, union President Nathan Saunders also said that “we must put an end to many of the unrealistic NCLB requirements which only result in closing schools in high-needs communities and disrupting communities,” according to a release from the union.
Saunders “implores” Gray to request the waivers, it read.
U.S. Education Secretary Arne Duncan announced that states (and D.C.!) can apply for waivers to No Child Left Behind’s requirement that 100 percent of students be proficient in math and reading by 2014.
In the District, that truly is unrealistic: Only 52 of 187 D.C. Public Schools and public charter schools met student proficiency goals in at least one subject, between math and reading.
In some D.C. Public Schools — largely concentrated in Southeast — proficiency rates dangle southward of 20 percent.
“If [waivers] effectively end high-stakes testing, provide more support to schools, and enact beneficial education reform, then why not apply,” Saunders said.
