Wyoming lawmakers want more flexibility in how schools are assessed under the federal education law, No Child Left Behind.
Members of the Legislature’s Select Committee on Statewide Education Accountability met in Saratoga Wednesday to discuss how to reform Wyoming’s system for evaluating schools. A rework of the state’s accountability system is required by legislation passed this year.
The group voted to send a letter to Wyoming’s congressional delegation, advocating for a U.S. Senate bill that would replace the federal education law, restore more power to states and school districts, make testing less frequent and remove statewide teacher accountability requirements.
Wyoming Senator Hank Coe says changes at the federal level are necessary for Wyoming to develop the system it wants.
“We would like the flexibility in our assessment system that we design—to not have to meet the necessary requirements that No Child Left Behind has,” Coe says. “We also feel that our system is better. We think that we assess better here with our system. And I’m confident that we’ll get the wavier—the exemption.”
The Select Committee also voted to direct the Technical Advisory Committee to focus on accountability for school leaders.
The group will next meet in October.
