Indiana free from No Child Left Behind

Indiana (WLFI) - Indiana will be one of ten pioneer states freed from following the rules of Federal No Child Left Behind legislation.

Legislation that State Superintendent of Public Instruction Tony Bennett told NewsChannel 18 was simply not working anymore for the state of Indiana.

"It was written with only the ability to utilize the measurement of whether students passed a test at a certain level or not," said Bennett.

But not all superintendents are happy with the waiver. Lafayette School Corporation Superintendent Ed Eiler feels waiving away federal legislation, simply waves in an assessment system with many of the same flaws.

"What they've done is approve a waiver in which standardized testing is even more important. according to the state accountability model," said Eiler, "What you're doing is replacing one set of bad laws for another set of bad laws. And basically, the states that I think were waivered were the states that are further along the lines of privatization."

Children in Indiana will now be assessed based on the standards set by the state, something Bennett feels gives schools and the state more freedom to assess progress in students.

"The flexibility we got was the flexibility to use how many students, what percentage of students passed our states assessments, how much growth do our students and our schools get," said Bennett.

Eiler said he doesn't see the flexibility for public school students, instead he feels the new law shackles students further.

"If you take the grading system that is in place in Indiana as part of the new accountability movement, it is set up exactly the same way as the No Child Left Behind law," said Eiler.

Under the 'No Child Left Behind' legislation, every student was required to be 'proficient' in reading and math by 2014.

The waiver does requires the state to provide a 'viable plan to prepare kids for college and careers' as well as set new achievement targets. The waiver also requires each state to reward the best performing schools and focus on helping the worst.

Several Indiana Republicans are backing the waiver including Governor Mitch Daniels and Republican Congressman Todd Rokita. A few other states granted waivers include Colorado, Florida, New Jersey and Kentucky. There are reportedly at least 28 other states interested in being granted waivers as well.