Portion of letter from USDOE Duncan to Zais concerning waiver of NCLB/ESEA

Here's a portion of the letter from US Education Secretary Arne Duncan to SC Superintendent of Education Mick Zais.  There is a paragraph in the letter that indicates an expectation for communication with local districts and superintendents. "Although South Carolina submitted a strong request that met all four principles of ESEA flexibility, we are concerned by the lack of local educational agency (LEA) support for South Carolina’s proposed accountability system and the potential impact of that lack of support on the effective implementation of South Carolina’s request.  The Department expects that South Carolina will conduct robust outreach to all LEAs to ensure that school and LEA leaders are informed about the State’s new accountability system, including how the metrics are designed, how the system will be implemented, and how the State educational agency (SEA) will work with LEAs to support continuous improvement in all schools.  We expect that this outreach will be proactive and will be designed to result in a clear understanding by stakeholders of the impact of the new system on South Carolina’s LEAs and schools.  Additionally, as South Carolina implements its ESEA flexibility request, the Department expects that the SEA will meaningfully engage and solicit input from stakeholders and meet regularly with LEA superintendents. "