Jim Horne
Commissioner
Florida Department of Education
Office of the Commissioner
Turlington Building, Suite 1514
325 West Gaines Street
Tallahassee, Florida 32399

Dear Mr. Horne:

I am pleased to inform you that the US Department of Education has approved the State-Flexibility Plan that the Florida Department of Education submitted under the No Child Left Behind Act’s State-Flexibility Authority Program (State-Flex). Florida is the first State in the country to receive State-Flex authority under this program. Enclosed is a document officially granting State-Flex Authority to your agency.

As a State-Flex recipient, Florida has gained unprecedented flexibility in the use of Federal funds, in exchange for increased accountability for improving student achievement and narrowing achievement gaps.

Under its State-Flex plan, the Florida Department of Education will consolidate funds it receives from Teacher and Principal Training and Recruitment (ESEA Section 2113(a)(3)), 21st Century Community Learning Centers (ESEA Section 4202(c)(2) and (3)), and Innovative Programs (ESEA Section 5112(b)). The State educational agency will use the consolidated funds as described in the approved State-Flex plan, and it will be held accountable for the specific goals and annual measurable objectives set forth in its application. As part of its State-Flex plan, the Florida Department of Education will also enter into local performance agreements with eight districts: Broward County School District, Escambia County School District, Hillsborough County School District, Jefferson County School District, Lake County School District, Marion County School District, Putnam County School District, and Volusia County School District.

Congratulations on being the first State educational agency to receive State-Flex authority. We look forward to a successful partnership with your agency.

Sincerely,
Ronald J. Tomalis
Acting Assistant Secretary
Office of Elementary and Secondary Education

Enclosure

SEA Policy Letters

March 8, 2004

Dear Colleague:

We are writing to encourage you to seriously consider joining Seattle Public Schools as a Local Flexibility Demonstration (Local-Flex) District. This program will enable up to 80 school districts to consolidate the funds they receive under the Teacher Quality (Title II, Part A), Educational Technology (Title II, Part D), Safe and Drug-Free Schools and Communities (Title IV, Part A) and Innovative Programs (Title V, Part A) under the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB). Districts awarded Local Flex authority may use those funds for any educational activity permitted under NCLB. This flexibility is intended to help participating districts meet their State’s definition of adequate yearly progress, and attain measurable goals for improving student achievement and narrowing achievement gaps.

For Seattle Public Schools, which recently became the first Local-Flex district in the nation, the flexibility offered by the program will make it possible for the district to target resources where needed to implement its long-range plans to improve academic achievement for all students, and to narrow and eliminate student achievement gaps.

Seattle Public Schools is Washington State’s largest public school district, with a total enrollment of approximately 47,000 students, grades K-12, who come from many different ethnic and racial backgrounds. Like many urban districts, Seattle serves a large group of economically disadvantaged students (approximately 40% of the students qualify for free or reduced lunch). The district also serves a large number of students with disabilities and students who are English language learners (students in the Seattle Public Schools speak more than 76 languages).

The district has worked for a number of years to overcome the problem of persistent achievement gaps among the diverse groups of students it serves. In June 2001, the district and its community partners undertook a long-range planning effort to address this concern. As a result of this effort, the district has strategic goals and priorities and an action plan to implement them. The flexibility provided by the Local-Flex program has given Seattle the opportunity to integrate federal funds and other resources, and better align those resources with the vision, mission, priorities, and strategies the district has developed. The district expects that the ability to align resources with its plan will expedite implementation of the plan, which, in turn, will lead to annual increases in the number of African-American, Latino, and Native American students who meet academic standards and who graduate from high school on time. The district also anticipates increasing the number of students who re-enter regular school settings after attending alternative schools, and expects to see increasing numbers of formerly educationally disadvantaged students accepted into advanced learning programs.

For Seattle, Local Flex will facilitate efforts to meet district and State student achievement goals and ensure that students who have not succeeded in the past are better able to succeed in the future. Ultimately, the flexibility provisions under NCLB allow States and school districts to make better use of Federal resources so that all of their students, regardless of their racial, ethnic, or economic backgrounds, their national origin or their disability status, can achieve.

We hope your district will join Seattle and take advantage of the opportunities the Local-Flex authority provides to help you meet your unique challenges as you endeavor to ensure that no child is left behind.

Sincerely,

Policy Letters to States

The United States Department of Education (Department) and the Seattle Public School District (Seattle) enter into this Local-Flexibility Demonstration (Local-Flex) Agreement to assist Seattle in meeting its State definition of adequate yearly progress and attaining specific, measurable goals for improving student achievement and narrowing achievement gaps. This Agreement is made under the authority in Sections 6151 through 6156 of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA), as amended by the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001.

The terms of the Agreement are as follows:

1. Seattle is authorized to and will consolidate the grant funds that it receives by formula under the following ESEA programs:

   1. Subpart 2 of Part A of Title II (Teacher and Principal Training and Recruitment);
   2. Subpart 1 of Part A of Title II (Enhancing Educational Technology);
   3. Subpart 1 of Part A of Title IV (Safe and Drug-Free Schools and Communities); and

   4. Subpart 1 of Part A of Title V (Innovative Programs).

2. Seattle will use the consolidated funds in accordance with its revised, approved Local-Flex Application, which was submitted to the Department on July 18, 2003 and the terms of which are incorporated by reference into this Agreement. The funds will be used to:

   1. Improve teacher knowledge, rigor and skill in the application of research-based practices and strategies for Mathematics, literacy content and pedagogy;
   2. Improve teacher knowledge and skill in standards-based, culturally-responsive teaching and learning, differentiation of instruction, and the use of data to inform instruction;
   3. Improve beginning teacher quality and preparation for service to underserved students of diverse backgrounds;
   4. Enhance the integration of technology in the classroom for teacher productivity and the teaching and learning program; and

   5. Provide intervention and support services for academic achievement, reentry and substance abuse issues for targeted student populations.

3. Seattle will be held accountable for the specific goals and annual measurable objectives set forth in its Application. Seattle’s long-term, strategic goals are as follows:

   1. All students enrolled in the Seattle Public Schools will reach or exceed State and District standards in Reading and Mathematics by 2013-2014;
   2. Disproportionality in student achievement in Reading and Mathematics will be eliminated by 2013-2014; and

   3. The graduation rate for high school students will meet or exceed State standards by 2013-2014. The unexcused absence rates for elementary and middle school students will be less than or equal to State standards by 2013-2014.

   As described in the Seattle Application, each subgroup of students will meet or exceed their annual performance targets for each year of the five year Agreement.

4. Seattle will provide such information and reports that the Department deems necessary in order to measure the effectiveness of Seattle’s implementation of the Local-Flex.

5. The Local-Flex assurances that were included in Seattle’s Application and as stated in the Local-Flex legislation are incorporated by reference into this Agreement.

6. This Agreement shall expire on August 31, 2008, subject to any amendments, limitations, termination or extension as provided in the Local-Flex legislation.

Policy Letters to States

May 28, 2003

The Honorable Michael E. Ward
State Superintendent
North Carolina Department of Public Instruction
6301 Mail Service Center
Raleigh, NC 27699-6301

Dear Dr. Ward:

The Department has reviewed your plan to invoke your authority as an Education Flexibility Partnership Act (Ed-Flex) State to issue waivers to LEAs on a case-by-case basis, for the 2003-2004 school year, of section 1119(a)(1) of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act, as amended by the No Child Left Behind Act (P.L. 107-110). We know that you are striving to ensure higher achievement for all students and understand that special efforts are needed to attain that goal for students in Title I schools. For these reasons we know that you do not invoke this authority lightly since, without highly qualified teachers, these students will continue to be left behind.

Under Ed-Flex, a State may consider requests from its LEAs to waive statutory
and regulatory requirements that impede implementation of State and local improvement plans or that unnecessarily burden program administration, while maintaining the intent and purposes of affected programs. (As you know, Ed-Flex States must meet the accountability requirements of Title I to maintain their Ed-Flex authority.)

North Carolina’s intention to waive, until the end of school year 2003-2004, the requirement that all teachers newly hired by an LEA to teach core academic subjects in a Title I program be highly qualified is permissible provided that:

1. The SEA grants the waivers on the basis of individual applications submitted
   by the LEAs under section 4 of the Ed-Flex statute (P.L. 106-25).
2. The SEA determines that the requesting LEA is taking the steps necessary to
   meet the requirements of section 1119 of Title I by the end of the period for
   which the waiver is granted.
3. The State’s and LEAs’ goals for raising the achievement of all students will
   not be compromised.
4. The waivers will not compromise the State’s plan to ensure that, not later
   than the end of the 2005-2006 school year, all teachers teaching in core academic subjects will be highly qualified.

I look forward to working with you to ensure that all of our children receive
a high-quality education.

Sincerely,

Eugene W. Hickok
Under Secretary

SEA Policy Letters