The Honorable Eric G. Mackey, Ed.D.
State Superintendent of Education
Alabama State Department of Education
50 North Ripley Street
P.O. Box 302101
Montgomery, Alabama 36104

Attn: Ed-Flex Waiver Comments

Dear Superintendent Mackey:

We, the undersigned education and civil rights advocacy organizations, write to offer comments on the Alabama State Department of Education’s (ALSDE) proposed Ed-Flex waiver. While we appreciate ALSDE’s desire to seek flexibility from federal requirements to better support students, we have strong concerns that parts of the proposal — particularly state-level spending flexibility and changes to high school accountability — risk undermining the state’s progress and deepening inequities between student groups in the state.

Ed-Flex Spending Flexibilities for Districts

ALSDE’s proposal to provide districts with the ability to adapt federal spending to local needs has the potential to enable local leaders and better support students. Exempting districts from Title I carry-over limits could allow them to fund projects or programs with large single year costs. Similarly, removing spending category limits for Title IV, Part A funds could allow districts to invest more easily in programs that foster positive and inviting school climates. Despite these potential benefits, we have concerns about the potential combined effects that multiple Title I flexibilities could have on ensuring these funds are effectively targeted to support the needs of students from low-income backgrounds. We encourage ALSDE to outline how they will monitor and report on the allocation and use of Title I funds, as well as the anticipated demand for and use of all district flexibilities, in any final Ed-Flex application to the US Department of Education (ED).

State Administrative and Activities Spending Flexibility

We applaud ALSDE for leveraging existing flexibility under Section 8201 to consolidate state administrative funds. However, we believe the proposed waiver to further consolidate not only state administrative funds but also funding for state activities across multiple programs into a single block grant, including federal dollars for English learners, risks undermining supports for some of the state’s most vulnerable students and contradicts congressional intent for specific uses of funds.

Given that ALSDE already has the authority to use Title II, Part A, Title IV, Part A and Title IV, Part B funds interchangeably via transferability provisions in ESEA Section 5103, support for English Learners is uniquely at risk. Funds intended by Congress to assist districts with technical support for better serving English learners, or for setting consistent procedures to identify and exit English learners from services, could instead be used for activities unrelated to assisting English learners. We strongly encourage ALSDE to remove this flexibility from its final proposal — which will need to be submitted via a separate waiver request from Ed-Flex. At a minimum, ALSDE should outline how it will ensure that services for English learners continue to be supported with the consolidated funds, including public reporting.

Changes to High School Accountability

We have serious concerns about the proposal to change Alabama’s high school accountability system by combining results from the ACT with those from the WorkKeys assessment. While we understand the intent behind this request, to provide a more relevant assessment for students planning to move directly into the workforce, we strongly believe that all students — regardless of their planned pathway — need to master high school level academic standards to be successful and enable a choice-filled life. The problem is that WorkKeys doesn’t measure mastery of high school academic standards; its math content aligns directly with middle school skills. This waiver effectively lowers standards and misleads both students and the public by signaling that students are ready for postsecondary opportunities despite not mastering grade-level content.

In Alabama’s own academic standards, calculating averages is a sixth grade skill. And yet, on WorkKeys, that question can contribute to a “Silver” level score for high school juniors. Under the state’s proposal, a student earning that Silver level could be counted as Tier 3 and earn full points in the state’s accountability system, even if they scored a 15 on the ACT (roughly the 25th percentile nationwide).

The waiver proposal itself notes that “examining data from Alabama students in the Class of 2025 who took both the ACT and the WorkKeys assessment as part of the state administration of the assessment shows that a significant percentage [28%] of students earn an NCRC of Silver or higher but nevertheless do not attain a Composite score on the ACT consistent with the State’s performance levels.” In other words, over a quarter of students were identified as “career ready” by WorkKeys even though they had not demonstrated the level of math and reading proficiency required to be considered on grade level in high school.

If ALSDE moves forward with its proposal to combine ACT and WorkKeys results into a single accountability score, high school juniors could be counted as “proficient” just for demonstrating mastery of sixth grade math skills on WorkKeys, despite scoring poorly on the ACT. This would make schools appear more successful than they truly are in preparing students for college and careers.

We believe this proposal will inevitably mask gaps in readiness and make it more difficult for families, educators, and policymakers to understand whether students are truly prepared for postsecondary success. It also risks incentivizing the tracking of certain students into courses with lower expectations. Rather than maintaining high standards for all students, those who are already underserved — particularly students with disabilities and students of color — could be steered into lower-level, remedial coursework aligned to WorkKeys instead of being taught the full breadth of Alabama’s high school standards. Yet, they would still count as proficient in the accountability system, even if they were never given a real chance to meet grade-level expectations.

Alabama has done the hard work of driving meaningful education reform, including investing in early literacy and strengthening math instruction. These policies have helped schools achieve real gains, but ALSDE must maintain high expectations to continue to see progress. Alabama should continue to maintain a rigorous and transparent accountability system that reflects meaningful preparation for postsecondary education and careers. Every student, whether headed to college or straight into the workforce, deserves to graduate with strong reading and math skills.

We respectfully urge ALSDE to remove its proposed accountability change and consolidation of state-level activities funds from its request to ED, limiting its request to Ed-Flex for district spending. Alternatively, Alabama could incorporate success on WorkKeys as a School Quality and Student Success measure as one part of a college and career readiness index. This would allow schools to receive credit for supporting students in reaching WorkKeys benchmarks without diluting measures of mastery of grade-level standards.

Thank you again for the opportunity to provide comments on ALSDE’s proposed ESSA waivers. We would welcome further discussion on our concerns and proposed alternatives to meet the state’s goals while maintaining alignment with federal requirements designed to ensure accountability and transparency about how schools are supporting the needs of all students.

Sincerely,

All4Ed
Center for Strong Public Schools
EdTrust
National Parents Union
National Center for Learning Disabilities
UnidosUS