Today, the Obama administration granted 10 states waivers from portions of the federal No Child Left Behind law. Idaho didn't make the list today — which is something of a surprise, given state school superintendent Tom Luna's criticism of the law. The explanation, however, is simple enough. Idaho still working on its application. The second round of waiver applications is due on Feb. 21/Kevin Richert, Idaho Statesman. More here.

Question: Any thoughts on the No Child Left Behind law?

Here's a news item from the Associated Press:  BOISE, Idaho (AP) — State Superintendent of Public Instruction Tom Luna is commending efforts in Congress to reform the federal No Child Left Behind law to measure student academic growth from year to year. Luna is president-elect of the Council of Chief State School Officers and testified Tuesday before a U.S. Senate panel, saying he supports efforts to overhaul the nation's governing education law. Idaho was among three states that vowed to ignore the latest requirements under No Child Left Behind, saying the education program sets unrealistic benchmarks for schools while failing to accurately measure student growth. Idaho and other states are implementing new statewide accountability systems. President Barack Obama announced in September that since Congress had failed to rewrite No Child Left Behind, he was allowing states a waiver to get around it.

Testifying at a U.S. Senate committee hearing today, state schools superintendent Tom Luna says he backs the bipartisan efforts to reauthorize the federal No Child Left Behind education law. The testimony came months after Luna informed the federal government that Idaho would opt out of some of the provisions in the 10-year-old law. “The current No Child Left Behind law reminds me of the old Clint Eastwood movie, 'The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly.' The good is that it created a standards-based system where schools are accountable for every child. The bad is it is a one-size-fits-all model that is difficult to implement in rural states like Idaho. The ugly is the federal government now sets the goal and prescribes the programs we must use to meet that goal. If those programs don’t work, we are held accountable,” Luna said/Kevin Richert, Statesman. More here.

Question: Are you elated/dismayed that Superintendent Luna is speaking on behalf of Idahoans before Congress re: the No Child Left Behind education law?

Idaho state schools Superintendent Tom Luna was among more than a dozen state school chiefs invited to joint President Obama and his education secretary, Arne Duncan, at the White House this morning to unveil a new waiver process for states under the No Child Left Behind Law. Luna said Idaho, which earlier refused to comply with changing rules in the program, will be among the first states to apply for one of the new waivers in November.

“Idaho has been extremely vocal on what the waiver process should look like, so I'm not surprised they invited Supt. Luna,” said Melissa McGrath, Luna's spokeswoman. After the White House ceremony, Luna said in a statement, “This will not be a waiver from accountability, but it will give the necessary flexibility states need to increase accountability and focus on making sure every student in Idaho is growing academically every year they are in school. I believe this is a symbolic shift of power from the federal government back to the states.”

Luna made the trip to the White House from New York, where he was attending a conference on education technology hosted by the New York Times. After the D.C. ceremony, he's scheduled to fly back to New York to participate in NBC's “Education Nation” school-reform summit, part of which will be televised on Sunday on MSNBC. Luna is due back in Idaho the evening of Sept. 29. Click below for a full report on the new waiver process from AP reporter Jessie Bonner, and you can read Luna's full statement here.

At least three states are vowing to ignore the latest requirements under the No Child Left Behind law in an act of defiance against the federal government that demonstrates their growing frustration over an education program they say sets unrealistic benchmarks for schools. The law sets a goal of having 100 percent of students proficient in math and reading by 2014, but states were allowed to establish how much schools must improve each year. Many states saved the biggest leaps for the final years, anticipating the law would be changed. But it hasn't, and states like Idaho, Montana and South Dakota are fed up. They are preparing to reject the latest requirements for determining school progress under the 9-year-old law - even if the move toward noncompliance may put them at risk of losing some federal funding/Associated Press. More here.

Question: Is Idaho being principled or foolish in risking federal dollars to take a stand against latest requirements under No Child Left Behind?

It turns out that Idaho's not alone in vowing to ignore the latest requirements under the No Child Left Behind Act in an act of defiance against the federal government that demonstrates their growing frustration over an education program they say sets unrealistic benchmarks for schools, the Associated Press reports. Joining Idaho are Montana and South Dakota, while Kentucky is seeking a waiver from the law and other states are considering the issue. Click below to read a full report from AP reporters Jessie Bonner and Christine Armario.

Idaho state schools Superintendent Tom Luna has sent a letter to U.S. Education Secretary Arne Duncan saying Idaho won't increase the “benchmarks” its students have to reach under the federal No Child Left Behind law next year, as the law requires, because the law measures only proficiency, not student academic growth from year to year. Instead, Idaho will use its own system for gauging student achievement, and not comply with that provision of No Child Left Behind until the federal law is overhauled to use better measures, the AP reports; click below for a full report from AP reporter Jessie Bonner. You can read Luna's letter to Duncan here.