State education officials requested a waiver on Wednesday for parts of the No Child Left Behind Act to establish a new accountability system for public schools, an action that has carried mixed support from the governor’s office.

In a statement, the Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction said the waiver calls for all schools receiving public funds, including public schools and parental choice program schools, to be held accountable in student achievement and student growth.

“Wisconsin is headed in a new direction,” State Superintendent Tony Evers said in the statement. “Our waiver request is a broad package of educational reforms that we need to prepare our students for college and careers.”

Patrick Gasper, a DPI spokesperson, said since last fall, 11 states have applied for waivers, and as of last week all have been approved. He said Wisconsin needs the waiver since the current version of No Child Left Behind is “unworkable.”

Gov. Scott Walker lauded the waiver in a letter sent to United States Secretary of Education Arne Duncan. However, he said he had a few concerns about how the waiver addresses school vouchers.

“Based on a brief initial review of the waiver, I have concerns about its disparity in treatment between public schools and schools in the Milwaukee Parental Choice Program,” Walker said in the letter. “Months ago, I committed to a fair system that holds all schools receiving public funds to the same measures of accountability.”

The Milwaukee Parental Choice Program is a school voucher program that allows students under specified circumstances to attend a private school at no charge.

Walker said in the letter there was a consensus among other members of the School Accountability Task Force, including Evers, that it should be a fair system for all schools that receive public funding.

Cullen Werwie, spokesperson for Walker, said in an email to The Badger Herald there is no valid reason for treating voucher schools different from public schools.

“We are committed to developing a fair accountability system for all schools, but we simply cannot think of a reason to do what DPI has done other than to – intentionally and misleadingly – make the choice program look bad,” Werwie said.

However, Gasper said the School Accountability Task Force approved the recommendation, which included members of the governor’s office.

Adam Gamoran, a University of Wisconsin sociology and educational policy professor and director of the Wisconsin Center for Education Research, said the waiver was very important to pass because Wisconsin would not be able to meet the requirements laid in No Child Left Behind.

Gamoran said while No Child Left Behind has identified inequalities in school performance, it only provides funding based on a single test and does not provide record improvement.

He said if the waiver is rejected, Wisconsin schools would likely fail to meet requirements, and any chance for accountability in the school system would be meaningless.

Werwie expressed hope for both improvement of the waiver and approval by the federal government.

“We are hopeful that by working together we’ll be able to get a waiver approved that ultimately improves education for all students in Wisconsin,” he said.