AUGUSTA – The Maine Department of Education received a three-year
waiver allowing flexibility regarding specific requirements of the
Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA), formerly known as the No
Child Left Behind Act of 2001(NCLB), whose reauthorization was recently
debated and is being revised in our nation’s capital. While the revised
ESEA shrinks the federal role yielding greater power to states to judge
student achievement and school performance (from regulations outlined
under NCLB), this recent waiver provides Maine educators and State and
local leaders the opportunity for continued work toward rigorous and
comprehensive State-developed plans designed to improve educational
outcomes for all students, close achievement gaps, increase equity, and
improve the quality of instruction.
“In 2013, Maine’s waiver application was approved by USDOE, but this
renewal of the waiver required diligent, persistent work on behalf of
Maine DOE,” says Acting Commissioner Thomas Desjardin. “We worked
relentlessly with Arne Duncan, US Secretary of Education and his staff
as the federal government had exerted extreme authority over states in
the past. The Maine DOE staff worked diligently in securing the
original waiver and again in this renewal process in making adjustments
addressing USDOE points. In March, Maine lawmakers joined in passing
legislation, LD 692, including rule making, to assist our efforts in
this waiver renewal request, making this a collaborative effort.”
This waiver, the first three-year waiver ever issued by USDOE,
allows Maine to continue on the path with more time for students to
learn and educators to teach. ESEA flexibility has and will continue to
allow Maine to focus resources on comprehensive, rigorous interventions
in the lowest-performing schools, while ensuring that all low-achieving
students have the supports they need to catch up to their peers. ESEA
flexibility also has an effect of energizing teacher and principal
effectiveness work across Maine and puts the focus on creating feedback
systems that show the impact teachers and principals are having on
student learning and shine a light on best practices to support
teachers' development.
At the heart of the State’s continued efforts is a system of
differentiated recognition, accountability and support for Maine’s
Title I-served schools, distinguished not just by student proficiency
but also progress. As a result, Maine’s mission is to cut in half the
percentage of non-proficient students at each school in the coming
years. This is done through the continued implementation of the Maine
Learning Results, a set of high standards geared to help Maine students
be career and college ready.
For more information contact: Acting Commissioner tom.desjardin@maine.gov, 624-6620, or Director of Communications anne.gabbianelli@maine.gov, 624-6747, 592-4439.