The Legislative Branch By-Pass

The Iowa Department of Education announced they are seeking citizen input for their No Child Left Behind waiver request.  You can see the full schedule of public meetings here.

This is an interesting development.  Education Director Jason Glass, representing Governor Terry Branstad, seeks a waiver for NCLB being given out by the Obama Administration.  I’m not a fan of No Child Left Behind, but I’m curious where in the constitution it says the U.S. Department of Education can just bypass the law?

There has been no congressional approval for these waivers.  But they’re not giving these out because it is the right thing to do, oh no.  There’s always a catch with the Obama administration.  You’ll get Arne Duncan’s seal of approve if, and only if, they adapt the… you guessed it – common core state standards or some other form of education reform legislation

I don’t recall the Iowa Legislature being asked to approve that either.

So we basically move from the Feds telling us what test results we should have to Feds telling us what we should teach.

Oh yes this is so *constitutional* all the way around!  What a deal!  Two by-passes for the price of one.

Tags: Arne Duncan, Barack Obama, Common Core State Standards, Jason Glass, No Child Left Behind, Terry Branstad, U.S. Department of Education

Category: Branstad Administration, Education Espresso