Pence Renews Call For Education Waiver

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Governor Mike Pence is continuing his call for the U.S. Department of Education to renew the state's No Child Left Behind waiver. In a letter to Education Secretary Arne Duncan, Pence says an extension would give the state flexibility in implementing new standards recently approved by the Indiana State Board of Education.

Indianapolis, Ind. — Governor Mike Pence spoke with U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan on Thursday, June 12, regarding the status of the U.S. Department of Education's work with the Indiana Department of Education regarding the state’s federal No Child Left Behind waiver. Below is an excerpt from the letter. The Governor’s letter in full to Secretary Duncan is attached.

“As I indicated in our call, my administration is fully committed to retaining this waiver and the state and local flexibility it affords to our students, teachers and schools.

“As you are aware, Indiana was the first state to withdraw from the Common Core standards. In fact, Indiana began to chart its own course on rigorous academic standards and assessments with legislation enacted in 2013. At that time, our state withdrew from the national testing consortium, PARCC. We did this with the full knowledge that these steps would require the adaptation of our existing state test, the ISTEP+, and this was reflected in state law. We then initiated the process to develop a set of excellent standards unique to our state. After an intensive process, we adopted a set of rigorous college- and career-ready standards on April 28, 2014. Following these actions, the Indiana Department of Education began immediate work to adapt our ISTEP+ to align with the new standards.

“Our administration is firmly committed to maintaining student assessment and teacher and school accountability without interruption. Testing gives us an accurate picture of how our students are doing and what help they need in the classroom. Indiana will not go backwards when it comes to measuring performance in our schools on my watch.”

Source: Office of Indiana Governor Mike Pence