The U.S. Department of Education announced Thursday Indiana’s No Child Left Behind waiver will extend through the 2014-2015 school year.
Indiana’s waiver was put on conditional status in May, with the federal government pointing to the state’s college and career ready standards, focus on failing schools and teacher evaluations as areas of concern.
In a letter sent to state superintendent Ritz, assistant secretary of Education Deborah Delisle said Indiana’s application for extension proved the state made improvements in its problem areas and will continue to implement those plans this year.
Ritz says DOE will work with the federal government to improve the state’s teacher evaluation
“In the state of Indiana," Says Ritz, "we have about 40 school corporations who by statute, when their contracts expire then they get on board with the new evaluation system according to statute.”
State Board of Education member Gordon Hendry says the extension is a relief but education officials should not put student in this position.
“We need to make sure this doesn’t happen again," says Hendry. "So we need to work together and collaborate on addressing all the issue that have been erased in this process to improve k-12 education in Indiana."
This extension only lasts through the current school year, and the state will go through the same process next year to renew the waiver.