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11 States Apply for NCLB Waivers

Less than a quarter of the states sought exemptions from the federal education law, but the U.S. Education Department expects every state to eventually apply.

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By Monday night's deadline, 11 states had applied for waivers from No Child Left Behind's regulations and requirements, the Education Department announced Tuesday in a release.

Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Indiana, Kentucky, Massachusetts, Minnesota, New Jersey, New Mexico, Oklahoma and Tennessee submitted their applications seven weeks after President Barack Obama announced his administration would approve waivers from the law's requirements under certain conditions until Congress reauthorizes the law.


States were required to establish their own accountability systems to replace the federal Adequate Yearly Progress metric. The new systems are expected to prepare students for college and a career, according to the Education Department. They must also include initiatives to identify and reform the lowest-performing schools in each state and outline plans to improve evaluations of teachers and administrators. States have also asked for flexibility in how they spend their Title I funding, particularly so that money could be used for schools that were not labeled as Title I, according to the department.

The waiver applications will be posted later this week, according to the department. States applying for waivers will be notified in January if their plan has been approved. There will be another deadline for states to apply for an NCLB waiver in February. The Education Department expects all 50 states to eventually apply for an exemption.

Dylan Scott is a GOVERNING staff writer.
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