[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":-1},["ShallowReactive",2],{"detail-sidebar-cat-0-en-105":3,"doc-seo-588028-105":59,"doc-detail-588028-en":130},{"code":4,"msg":5,"data":6},0,"success",[7,13,18,23,28,33,38,43,48,51,55],{"id":8,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":9,"category_name":10,"show_sort_weight":11,"slug":12},1,"Document","Story & Novel",90,"story-novel",{"id":14,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":9,"category_name":15,"show_sort_weight":16,"slug":17},2,"Literature",80,"literature",{"id":19,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":9,"category_name":20,"show_sort_weight":21,"slug":22},4,"Exam",70,"exam",{"id":24,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":9,"category_name":25,"show_sort_weight":26,"slug":27},5,"Comic",60,"comic",{"id":29,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":9,"category_name":30,"show_sort_weight":31,"slug":32},6,"Technology",50,"technology",{"id":34,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":9,"category_name":35,"show_sort_weight":36,"slug":37},7,"Healthcare",40,"healthcare",{"id":39,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":9,"category_name":40,"show_sort_weight":41,"slug":42},8,"Research & Report",30,"research-report",{"id":44,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":9,"category_name":45,"show_sort_weight":46,"slug":47},9,"Religion & Spirituality",20,"religion-spirituality",{"id":46,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":9,"category_name":49,"show_sort_weight":46,"slug":50},"World Cup","world-cup",{"id":52,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":9,"category_name":53,"show_sort_weight":52,"slug":54},10,"Lifestyle","lifestyle",{"id":56,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":9,"category_name":57,"show_sort_weight":24,"slug":58},19,"General","general",{"code":4,"msg":60,"data":61},"ok",{"site_id":62,"language":63,"slug":64,"title":65,"keywords":66,"description":67,"schema_data":68,"social_meta":123,"head_meta":125,"extra_data":127,"updated_unix":129},105,"en","flexibility-and-its-limits-evaluating-indianas-essa-waiver-request","Flexibility and Its Limits - Evaluating Indiana’s ESSA Waiver Request","","Flexibility and Its Limits examines Indiana’s request for an Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) waiver that would allow broader use of federal education funds. It outlines the state’s rationale for consolidating funding streams, easing district restrictions, and adjusting parts of accountability, then evaluates potential effects in the existing policy environment. The analysis focuses on Indiana’s stated barriers to approval and implementation, emphasizing compliance, accountability, and impacts on equity-driven support for students.",{"@graph":69,"@context":122},[70,84,105],{"@type":71,"itemListElement":72},"BreadcrumbList",[73,77,79,82],{"item":74,"name":75,"@type":76,"position":8},"https://docshare.wps.com","Home","ListItem",{"item":78,"name":9,"@type":76,"position":14},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/",{"item":80,"name":40,"@type":76,"position":81},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/research-report/",3,{"item":83,"name":65,"@type":76,"position":19},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/flexibility-and-its-limits-evaluating-indianas-essa-waiver-request/588028/",{"url":83,"name":65,"@type":85,"image":86,"author":91,"headline":65,"publisher":94,"fileFormat":97,"inLanguage":63,"description":67,"dateModified":98,"datePublished":99,"encodingFormat":97,"isAccessibleForFree":100,"interactionStatistic":101},"DigitalDocument",{"url":87,"@type":88,"width":89,"height":90},"https://docshare.wps.com/thumbnails/flexibility-and-its-limits-evaluating-indianas-essa-waiver-request/588028.png","ImageObject",300,407,{"name":92,"@type":93},"Bintang","Person",{"url":74,"name":95,"@type":96},"DocShare","Organization","application/pdf","2026-10-30","2026-10-15",true,{"@type":102,"interactionType":103,"userInteractionCount":29},"InteractionCounter",{"@type":104},"ViewAction",{"@type":106,"mainEntity":107},"FAQPage",[108,114,118],{"name":109,"@type":110,"acceptedAnswer":111},"What flexibility does Indiana seek under its ESSA waiver request?","Question",{"text":112,"@type":113},"Indiana seeks broader latitude to consolidate multiple federal funding streams and loosen how districts use ESSA dollars, aligned to state priorities such as early literacy, middle school transitions, and postsecondary readiness.","Answer",{"name":115,"@type":110,"acceptedAnswer":116},"Why does the analysis not speculate on Indiana’s accountability portion of the waiver?",{"text":117,"@type":113},"The document notes that Indiana is revising its accountability system and has not finalized key elements like indicators, weighting, or performance categories, making it unclear why flexibility would be needed for accountability.",{"name":119,"@type":110,"acceptedAnswer":120},"What are the main policy arguments for and against granting federal education flexibility?",{"text":121,"@type":113},"Supporters argue local leaders can innovate more effectively with greater autonomy, while critics warn that removing categorical requirements could weaken civil-rights protections and reduce targeted support for students who need it most.","https://schema.org",{"og:url":83,"og:type":124,"og:title":65,"og:site_name":95,"og:description":67},"article",{"robots":126,"canonical":83},"index,follow",{"doc_id":128,"site_id":62},588028,1792645395,{"code":4,"msg":5,"data":131},{"doc_id":128,"user_id":132,"nickname":92,"user_avatar":133,"doc_module":4,"category_id":39,"category_name":40,"doc_title":65,"doc_description":67,"doc_content":134,"file_id":135,"file_url":136,"file_type":137,"file_size":138,"view_count":29,"is_deleted":4,"is_public":8,"is_downloadable":8,"audit_status":8,"page_count":34,"language":139,"language_code":63,"site_id":62,"html_lang":63,"table_of_contents":140,"faqs":141,"seo_title":142,"seo_description":67,"update_tm":143,"read_time":144,"preview_page_count":4},962085564381,"https://ap-avatar.wpscdn.com/davatar_6f874abed73319feea01a86fa6f0fab8","Flexibility and Its Limits: Evaluating Indiana’s ESSA Waiver Request  \nJames Carter  \nJanuary 2026  \nIn recent months, several states have asked the US Department of Education for waivers granting them broad flexibility in how they use federal education funds allotted under the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) . Indiana is seeking permission to consolidate multiple federal funding streams, loosen restrictions on how districts use ESSA dollars, and alter aspects of its accountability system. State leaders argue that federal rules are overly prescriptive , are administratively burdensome, and prevent schools from tailoring programs to local priorities. Their waiver application explicitly frames flexibility as a way to “prioritize student learning over federal bureaucracy.”1  \nThe Department of Education under Secretary McMahon has invited these waivers—which Iowa, Kansas, and Oklahoma have also submitted and Iowa has had approved—and seems inclined to grant them, nodding toward the Trump administration’s agenda of “returning education to the states.” Here, we seek to understand the potential effects of these flexible funding waivers in the existing policy environment instead of broadly interpreting or interrogating the administration’s larger agenda. We focus on Indiana, analyzing the state’s stated reasons for the waiver, the desired outcomes, and the barriers to approval and implementation.  \nBackground  \nThough federal dollars typically2 make up less than 10 percent of total education spending nationwide, they are among the most targeted and equity-driven sources of support (Chingos and Blagg 2017) . These funds, distributed through the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA), are designed to narrow achievement gaps and ensure that students facing systemic barriers—low-income students, English learners, students with disabilities, students experiencing homelessness, and children in rural or migratory circumstances—receive additional educational support.  \nNationally, the debate over federal education flexibility has deep roots—dating back to before the No Child Left Behind era and resurfacing more recently through calls to convert federal education programs into block grants. Currently, the federal government allocates education funding for specific purposes or students, meaning the funding comes with strict use cases and reporting requirements. Block grants, however, provide lump sums of funding to be used across multiple purposes, often with minimal federal oversight or conditions.  \nSupporters of such flexibility argue that local leaders know their students best and can innovate more freely without federal oversight, giving states, districts, and schools more autonomy to meet local needs. Critics counter that removing categorical requirements risks unraveling decades of civil rights protections embedded in and incentivized by federal law, reducing targeted support for the students who need it most.  \nIndiana’s waiver asks for a much larger level of funding flexibility than currently afforded under ESSA. As Indiana’s waiver advances, it is worth asking: What are the specific federal compliance requirements state policymakers cite as barriers to innovation, and how strong is the case that those requirements can be removed while ensuring that schools remain accountable to serving the students federal policy is designed to protect?  \nIndiana’s Waiver Request: Dimensions of Flexibility  \nOf the four state-submitted waivers, Indiana’s is the most comprehensive and is still being considered, so we focus our analysis on it. Indiana’s waiver is organized into four parts, broadly focusing on three areas of flexibility: ESSA title funding (Parts 1 and 2), school improvement (Part 3), and school accountability (Part 4).  \nIndiana’s accountability system is undergoing significant revision, and the state has not finalized the indicators, weighting, or performance categories that will define accountability under its new framework.","cbCainXEXvMrDmOK","https://ap.wps.com/l/cbCainXEXvMrDmOK","pdf",163783,"English","# Background\n## Federal education funding and equity goals\n## Block grants vs. targeted federal programs\n## Arguments for and against flexibility\n# Indiana’s Waiver Request: Dimensions of Flexibility\n## Scope and waiver structure\n## Why accountability flexibility may be unnecessary\n# Flexibility with ESSA Funding\n## Consolidation of funding streams\n## Table 1: ESSA section descriptions and cited authorities","[{\"question\":\"What flexibility does Indiana seek under its ESSA waiver request?\",\"answer\":\"Indiana seeks broader latitude to consolidate multiple federal funding streams and loosen how districts use ESSA dollars, aligned to state priorities such as early literacy, middle school transitions, and postsecondary readiness.\"},{\"question\":\"Why does the analysis not speculate on Indiana’s accountability portion of the waiver?\",\"answer\":\"The document notes that Indiana is revising its accountability system and has not finalized key elements like indicators, weighting, or performance categories, making it unclear why flexibility would be needed for accountability.\"},{\"question\":\"What are the main policy arguments for and against granting federal education flexibility?\",\"answer\":\"Supporters argue local leaders can innovate more effectively with greater autonomy, while critics warn that removing categorical requirements could weaken civil-rights protections and reduce targeted support for students who need it most.\"}]","Flexibility and Its Limits - Evaluating Indiana’s ESSA Waiver Request | PDF",1792064069,18]