NCLB: Waiver Proposal Fails To Break Logjam

Five days in and there's still pretty much no one besides the state and district administrators clamoring for relief who likes Duncan's Plan B "recess reauthorization" -- though Patrick Eduflack Riccards comes close -- and it's not at all clear that the idea has done anything to jumpstart reauthorization talks on the Hill, either (the underlying goal of the Duncan proposal).  NEA president Dennis Van Roekel came out against the idea almost immediately, caling it "more of the same bad patchwork quilt of disparities in our education system."  George Miller came out against it at yesterday's CAP event, according to EdWeek (Rep. Miller Not a Fan of Duncan's NCLB Waiver Plan) as did AFT president Randi Weingarten who said a waiver approach "creates a disincentive to get the law reauthorized (at about 44:20).  Chairman Kline noted on NPR that Race To The Top was already one giant waiver and NCLB didn't need to be turned into another.  It's a double whammy -- folks either don't like the idea of waivers, or they don't like the idea of attaching Race To The Top-like strings (see FireDogLake and Hess), or both.  Not even NCLB's harshest critics -- the Diane Ravitches of the world -- have come out in favor of the waiver plan.  Meantime, the tough work of making sure that Race generates some real changes continues with state implementation visits (Department Officials Visit Massachusetts to Learn About Race Implementation), and House Republicans are moving ahead with their piecemeal approach.