South Carolina Superintendent of Education Mick Zais announced Thursday the dates and locations for a series of community stakeholder meetings about the state's intent to request flexibility from certain requirements of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA), commonly called No Child Left Behind.

Here is the news release from the superintendent's office.

Dr. Zais announced his intention to seek flexibility on October 10, 2011 in a letter to U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan.

Dr. Zais said, "While the goals of No Child Left Behind were noble, in practice it has handcuffed innovation in South Carolina's schools. This opportunity to request flexibility from the federal government will give South Carolina schools the tools to personalize and customize education for every student, to modernize the state's accountability system increasing its transparency while maintaining high standards, to fairly evaluate and recognize the effectiveness of teachers and principals, and reduce the number of regulations on schools. Schools will then be free to focus on their most important mission: teaching students and preparing them for life. I strongly encourage every student, parent, teacher, principal, and taxpayer to review the waiver request, attend a community stakeholder meeting, and offer input."

Last week Dr. Zais announced a period of public comment. The State's waiver request is available online: <http://ed.sc.gov/agency/lpa/ESEAFlexibility.cfm> . There is an online comment form allowing anyone to share their thoughts and ideas until January 23, 2011. The State will submit its request for flexibility by February 21, 2012.

During November, Dr. Zais and the agency held a series of meetings with key stakeholders to explain the process for the request and the components required by the US Department of Education.

Below is the schedule of community stakeholder meetings. The schedule is available online: <http://ed.sc.gov/agency/lpa/ESEAFlexibility.cfm> . Students, parents, taxpayers, teachers, school administrators, school board members, state legislators, business leaders, civil rights organizations, representatives from institutions of higher education, and the public are all invited and encouraged to attend a meeting in their community. As more information on the exact location of each meeting becomes available, it will be posted to the SCDE website.

Date Location County Time

1/3/2012 Darlington County Institute of Technology Darlington 6-8:30 p.m.

1/3/2012 Manning High School Clarendon 6-8:30 p.m.

1/4/2012 Wade Hampton High School Hampton 6-8:30 p.m.

1/4/2012 Bluffton High School Beaufort 6-8:30 p.m.

1/5/2012 TBD York 6-8:30 p.m.

1/5/2012 Lancaster County School District Office Lancaster 6-8:30 p.m.

1/9/2012 Tri-County Technical College Pickens 6-8:30 p.m.

1/9/2012 Anderson University Anderson 6-8:30 p.m.

1/10/2012 Piedmont Technical College Greenwood 6-8:30 p.m.

1/10/2012 Millbrook Elementary School Aiken 6-8:30 p.m.

1/11/2012 Virtual Meeting (webcast live) Statewide 6-8:30 p.m.

1/12/2012 Fort Dorchester High School Dorchester 6-8:30 p.m.

1/12/2012 Claflin University Orangeburg 6-8:30 p.m.

1/17/2012 Lexington Middle School Lexington 6-8:30 p.m.

1/17/2012 SCDE Landmark Office Richland 6-8:30 p.m.

1/18/2012 *Conway High School (location tentative) Horry 6-8:30 p.m.

1/18/2012 Florence-Darlington Technical College Florence 6-8:30 p.m.

1/19/2012 Goose Creek High School Berkeley 6-8:30 p.m.

1/19/2012 *The Citadel (location tentative) Charleston 6-8:30 p.m.

1/23/2012 Greenville Technical College Greenville 6-8:30 p.m.

1/23/2012 USC Upstate Spartanburg 6-8:30 p.m.

On September 23, 2011, Secretary Duncan announced a process by which States could request flexibility from certain federal requirements. In return for this flexibility, States must agree to four core principles:

· College and career ready expectations for all students

· State-developed differentiated recognition, accountability, and support

· Supporting effective instruction and leadership

· Reducing duplication and unnecessary burden

For more information about the process proposed by Secretary Duncan, visit: <http://www.ed.gov/esea/flexibility> .