FOR RELEASE: December 21, 2000	Contact:         Melinda Kitchell Malico (202) 401-1008

RILEY AWARDS ED FLEX AUTHORITY TO NORTH CAROLINA

U.S. Secretary of Education Richard W. Riley today granted North Carolina special program flexibility to help advance its school improvement efforts.

"As states and communities implement school improvement reforms to help all children meet challenging academic standards, they need to be able to use federal resources in ways that best complement local efforts and innovation," Riley said. "But that expanded flexibility must be accompanied by strong accountability. This new education flexibility authority holds schools and states strictly accountable for results."

Last year, President Clinton signed the new Education Flexibility (Ed Flex) Partnership Act into law - enabling all states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico and the territories to form Ed Flex partnerships with the department. Under Ed Flex, states can waive many of the requirements of seven federal education programs to advance their school improvement efforts. States must also show they can waive state educational requirements that limit flexibility to improve schools and districts. The new legislation requires waivers to be tracked to make sure they improve student performance--and waivers must be revoked when they fail to do so. To qualify, states must meet the Title I requirement to hold children in schools that receive Title I funds to the same academic standards as other schools in the state. Title I is the $8.5 billion federal K-12 education program under the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA) to improve educational achievement among disadvantaged children.

Under Title I, states must have developed and be able to implement during school year 2000-01 assessments aligned to challenging academic standards that measure student performance in at least math and reading. The assessments must include all students, including students with disabilities and limited English proficiency (LEP), and measure student performance three times during schooling-- in elementary, middle and high school.

Title I also requires states to:

• identify schools and districts that are not making sustained and continuous progress in helping all students reach state standards;

• help these schools and districts improve;

• further intervene to turn around schools that have been low-performing for three years; and ,

• report individual school performance annually to parents, community members and educators.

In order to meet the eligibility requirement under Title I that all students must be included in assessments, North Carolina will undergo a rulemaking process to amend its policies for including LEP students in the 2000-01 administration of the state test. Only certain requirements may be waived under Ed Flex. Civil rights and Individuals with Disabilities Education Act requirements cannot be waived, and no waivers that undermine the purpose of the program can be awarded. The waiver authority applies to:

1. Title I of the ESEA [other than sections 1116(a) and (c)], including Part A (Title I Basic Program), Part B (Even Start), Part C (Migrant Education), Part D (Neglected and Delinquent), and the Title I portion of the Comprehensive School Reform Demonstration Program;
2. Part B of Title II of the ESEA -- the State and Local Activities portion of the Eisenhower Professional Development Program;
3. Subpart 2 of Part A of Title III of the ESEA (other than section 3136) -- the Technology Literacy Challenge Fund Program;
4. Title IV of the ESEA -- the Safe and Drug-Free Schools and Communities Program;
5. Title VI of the ESEA, including the Class-Size Reduction Program;
6. Part C of Title VII of the ESEA -- the Emergency Immigrant Education Program; and
7. The Carl D. Perkins Vocational and Technical Education Program.

The Ed Flex authority continues for five years if states continue to meet the requirements.

NOTE TO EDITORS: For further information on North Carolina, contact William F. McGrady, N.C. Department of Public Instruction, (919) 807-3957 ###