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FOR RELEASE January 29, 1996
Contact: Melinda Kitchell Malico (202) 401-1008
To help advance local school improvement efforts in Texas, U.S. Secretary of Education Richard W. Riley today gave Texas authority to waive federal education rules and regulations that get in the way of community efforts to improve teaching and learning. Statewide, school district, and school waivers to cut red tape are allowed under the new "Ed-Flex" partnership between the states and the U.S. Department of Education.
This break with the old top-down approach to government comes under the Goals 2000: Educate America Act and is designed to promote and support state and community efforts to help students learn the basics and core subjects to high standards.
"Texas is one of five states to be involved in this unique partnership for better education, authorized by Congress," Riley said. "As a leader among states, Texas is making good things happen in education. The bipartisan spirit with which the Texas legislature embraced the S.B.1 school improvement package mirrors the bipartisan way in which Congress passed Goals 2000. I commend Gov. Bush and the legislature for leadership they have shown in setting high standards and employing flexibility to improve teaching and learning under Texas' Academics 2000. Ed-Flex will add to the state's policy of flexibility in exchange for accountability. "The Ed-Flex program is a striking example of the new partnership that this administration is forming with states and communities to help raise standards of discipline and achievement in our schools," Riley said. "Texas has demonstrated its commitment to providing flexibility, accountability and effective innovation in order to improve teaching and learning."
An example of a waiver already granted by Riley for Texas is one for the Ft. Worth School District. The waiver allows targeting of an extra portion of Title I dollars to four high- poverty, inner-city elementary schools. The federal Title I program provides extra basic skills help to students attending low-income schools. The schools were chosen for a complete overhaul due to low achievement and other factors. Each school uses Title I funds to improve instruction for all its students and will reorganize staff, lengthen the school year, focus on teaching reading and math, provide extensive teacher training, and strengthen links to the community.
Selection of Texas as an Ed-Flex state allows waiver decisions such as the Ft. Worth waiver to be made by the state -- not the federal government -- giving the state the power to waive rules that can limit local and state efforts to improve teaching and learning, in exchange for accountability for student progress. Texas plans to build on its experience with state waivers as a tool for school improvement and continue to support district- and school-level decision making.
Texas joins Ohio, Oregon, Kansas and Massachusetts as recently designated Ed-Flex states. A total of six states can earn the status under the Goals 2000 Act.
To qualify for the waiver authority under the Education Flexibility Partnership Demonstration Program, Texas designed and submitted its Academics 2000 comprehensive school improvement plan. The plan was developed with local input from parents, educators, community members and the private sector and ties the state's school improvement plan to challenging academic standards for learning. Texas also pledged to waive numerous state requirements that apply to education and to hold schools and districts accountable for students' academic performance.
School districts and schools in Texas will be able to seek waivers from requirements of the Perkins Act and the Elementary and Secondary Education Act, including Title I, the Safe and Drug-free Schools and Communities provisions, and other programs. Civil rights requirements will not be waived and the state will be accountable for the impact of waivers on all children affected, including limited English proficient and low-income children. Likewise, waivers are not allowable under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act.
Goals 2000 helps local partnerships improve local schools, raise student academic achievement, involve parents in schools, bring technology into the classroom, upgrade teachers' skills and knowledge throughout their careers, and create partnerships with business and community groups. Texas received $29.2 million in year two and $7.1 million in year one of Goals 2000.
Riley said the department's commitment to flexibility is also reflected in its implementation of the Goals 2000 Act. The education reform law has no regulations, nor will any be issued. States were asked to submit only a four-page application in order to receive first-year federal funds. Forty-eight states received funds in year one to develop blueprints for better schools.