Florida is seeking to opt out of No Child Left Behind requirements for public schools as the Obama administration offers states a way around provisions of the once-heralded law.

The administration contends many elements of the Bush-era education initiative have become barriers to learning and that too many schools, even those showing modest progress, risk being labeled as failing.

States will be allowed to ask the Education Department to be exempted from some of the laws requirements if they meet certain conditions. They include enacting standards to prepare students for college and careers and making teachers and principals more accountable.

State Department of Education spokeswoman Cheryl Etters said Florida will seek a waiver from the initiative, although its details have yet to be worked out.
Florida had its own A-to-F school grading system before the No Child Left Behind law was passed.

The state grades are based largely on how much students improve year to year on the Florida Comprehensive Assessment Test, or FCAT.

Most Florida schools get grades of A and B. Yet, a majority of Florida schools still fail to meet the more complex No Child Left Behind standards.

Education Secretary Arne Duncan said that the emphasis will be more on growth than on test scores.

We cant have a law on the books thats slowing down progress, thats slowing down innovation, he said.

School administrators in Lee and Collier counties agreed that some changes to the law are needed.

When they started (No Child Left Behind), it was a great initiative, said Spring Creek Elementary Principal Vonnie Bryant. It had great potential because it raised expectations. And I think we all need to be held accountable.

But, she said, it was doomed to failure because it did not come with more funding for struggling school districts.

Spring Creek has not met federally defined Annual Yearly Progress measures for the past three years despite earning A grades from the state education department each year.

Pelican Elementary has had similar struggles meeting those yearly progress goals, despite high marks from the states education department. Specifically, students with disabilities did not show enough improvement to meet federal goals.

Principal Richard Ivill said he does not know enough about the Obama administration proposals to comment.

He spoke only generally about the existing No Child Left Behind law.

Theres good points to it, and theres some areas of concern with it, Ivill said.

Collier County Public Schools released a statement Friday on the announcement: We believe the proposed flexibility in allowing state waivers would be in the best interest of students and schools.

The administration says it is acting because Congress has been slow to address the issues by rewriting the law.

But Rep. John Kline, R-Minn., who chairs the House Education Committee, has questioned whether the education department has the authority to offer the waivers.
Hes said that the president has allowed an arbitrary timeline to dictate when Congress should get the law rewritten and that the committee needs more time to develop its proposals, which it is doing.

Kline called the administrations plan a political move and said he cannot support a process that sets a dangerous precedent by granting the education secretary sweeping authority to handpick winners and losers.

The No Child Left Behind law passed in 2001 with widespread bipartisan support and much fanfare. It sought to hold schools more accountable for student performance and get better qualified teachers in classrooms. It also offers school choice and extra tutoring to students attending schools deemed failing.

Critics say the law created too much of an emphasis in classrooms on standardized tests, driving the stakes so high that it may have even fostered an environment where school officials in some districts opted to cheat. In particular, the requirement that all students be on grade level in math and reading by 2014 has been hugely unpopular.

The law has been due for a rewrite since 2007. Obama and Duncan had asked Congress to overhaul it by the start of this school year but a growing ideological divide in Congress in recent years has complicated efforts to do so.

The GOP-led House Education Committee has forwarded three bills that would overhaul aspects of the law but has yet to fully tackle some of the more contentious issues such as teacher effectiveness and accountability.

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