ISTA Praises DOE and Supt. Ritz for preparing successful waiver application
08/28/2014

 

The U.S. Department of Education announced today that Indiana will keep its NCLB waiver. The announcement can be read here.

 

The waiver and Indiana’s ability to control how more than $250 million in federal dollars are used was in jeopardy. The USDOE put Indiana and its waiver status on notice in April citing the state legislature’s decision to drop using Common Core state standards.

 

ISTA President Teresa Meredith said, “We thank the staff of the Indiana Department of Education and Superintendent Glenda Ritz for all of their hard work preparing Indiana’s waiver application, which we believe is in the best interests of the thousands of children who attend Indiana’s public schools."

 

“Governor Mike Pence’s shadow education agency, CECI, issued a memo to the USDOE last month criticizing Indiana’s waiver application in what many considered an attempt to undermine Ritz.

 

“Thankfully, the USDOE saw past this distraction and acknowledged that Indiana’s compliance is not in danger under the direction of Superintendent Ritz and the Indiana Department of Education.”