Ed-Flex Waiver Authority Is Limited in Scope

Under Ed-Flex, the Department of Education delegates a portion of its authority to grant waivers to the 12 participating states, allowing each of these states to make decisions about whether particular school districts should be granted waivers of covered federal requirements. Although the federal government has established many education programs, Ed-Flex states can waive only certain specific requirements under six major programs: (1) Title I of the ESEA, which provides funding to help local school districts give additional educational assistance to disadvantaged children; (2) Title II of the ESEA, the Eisenhower Professional Development Program, which provides funding to local school districts to provide teacher training and professional development in math and science; (3) Title IV of the ESEA, the Safe and Drug-Free Schools and Communities Program, which provides funding for programs to prevent violence and substance abuse; (4) Title VI of the ESEA, Innovative Education Program Strategies, which provides funding to help school districts develop innovative programs in several areas, including adult education and family literacy; (5) part C of Title VII of the ESEA, Emergency Immigrant Education, which provides funding for the educational needs of immigrant children; and (6) the Carl D. Perkins Vocational-Technical Education Act, which provides support for vocational and technical education programs at the secondary and postsecondary levels. Of the 12 Ed-Flex states, 7—Colorado, Maryland, Michigan, New Mexico, Ohio, Texas, and Vermont—have the authority to grant both statewide waivers (which can be used by any qualifying district in the state) and individual waivers (which can be used by only the district that applied and was approved for the waiver). However, the remaining 28 states clearly do not meet Ed-Flex eligibility criteria. Under current law, a state is eligible for the Ed-Flex designation only if it meets two criteria. Second, Ed-Flex states must have the ability to modify their own requirements consistent with the federal waivers they grant. Number of Ed-Flex Waivers Varies by State, but Most Waivers Are Related to Title I

In some Ed-Flex states, the state education agency has granted relatively few waivers of federal requirements in comparison with the number of school districts in the state. Of the nine states that had been participating in Ed-Flex for more than 1 year as of January 1998, four granted 10 or fewer individual waivers. In the seven Ed-Flex states that have the authority to grant statewide waivers, any qualifying school district can take advantage of a statewide waiver without having to demonstrate specific need for that waiver. Most Ed-Flex Waivers Involve Title I

Most of the Ed-Flex waivers granted have centered around Title I, the largest federal program for elementary and secondary education. According to several officials from these and other Ed-Flex states, Ed-Flex is valuable, regardless of the number of waivers granted, because it promotes a climate that encourages state and local educators to explore new approaches, frequently making better use of the flexibility that already exists within state and federal requirements. Second, the federal government is accountable for the overall results of the federal programs affected by Ed-Flex waivers. Ed-Flex States Vary in How They Establish Goals and Objectives for Federal Waivers

Wide variation exists among Ed-Flex states regarding whether they have established clearly defined goals to measure the results of waivers received by districts and schools. Federal Oversight Under Ed-Flex Provides Limited Information on Program Results

Currently, the Department of Education’s oversight of Ed-Flex waivers is limited to requiring Ed-Flex states to submit an annual report to the Department summarizing the waivers granted in the previous calendar year. The Department also expressed concern that the report focused on the few requirements that may not be waived rather than on the broad scope of program-related requirements that are subject to waivers. Number and Types of Waivers Granted for State-Imposed Requirements, 1997

Does state have authority to waive state requirements? State special education requirements.
Why GAO Did This Study

Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO provided information on the Education Flexibility Partnership Demonstration Act (Ed-Flex) in 1994, focusing on: (1) the scope of Ed-Flex and how it works; (2) the criteria states must meet to participate in Ed-Flex and identify the extent to which states not currently participating satisfy these criteria; (3) the number and type of waivers that Ed-Flex states have granted to their local school districts; (4) participating states' views on the usefulness of Ed-Flex; and (5) issues for ensuring accountability if Ed-Flex is continued or expanded.

What GAO Found

GAO noted that: (1) under the Ed-Flex project, the state is allowed to make decisions about whether particular school districts should be granted waivers of certain federal requirements; (2) although the federal government has established a large number of education programs, states can waive only certain specific requirements within six programs; (3) in 5 of the 12 Ed-Flex states, the state can grant only individual waivers; (4) in the remaining seven states, the state can grant statewide waivers without the requirement that the district demonstrate its specific need for the waiver; (5) to be eligible for selection as an Ed-Flex state, a state had to meet two criteria related to its ability to implement Ed-Flex in conjunction with overall education reform; (6) states were required to: (a) have a plan for education reform that had been reviewed and approved by the federal Department of Education; and (b) be able to modify any of their own state requirements that were associated with the federal waivers they granted; (7) currently, only 2 of the 38 nonparticipating states clearly satisfy these criteria and would be eligible to participate if the limit of 12 Ed-Flex states was eliminated; (8) states participating in the Ed-Flex project vary in the number of waivers they have granted to local school districts; (9) the waivers granted by Ed-Flex states typically center around Title I of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act; (10) Title I provides funds to many school districts to give special educational assistance to economically and educationally disadvantaged students; (11) school districts seeking waivers have mainly sought to change how Title I funds can be used within a school or to change the distribution of Title I funds across schools; (12) states also vary in the degree to which they view these waivers as helpful; (13) some states told GAO that Ed-Flex is useful for creating a climate that encourages innovation and flexibility, even if few waivers are granted; (14) others reported that because the authority to grant waivers is limited to specific programs and requirements, Ed-Flex is of limited value; (15) the Ed-Flex project creates challenges in holding districts accountable for the results of individual waivers and also in holding states, districts, and the federal Department of Education accountable for the results of federal programs that are affected by these waivers; and (16) while some states have put in place specific goals and established clear and measurable objectives for evaluating the impact of waivers, many Ed-Flex states have not established any goals or have defined only vague objectives.