 In just five months, the Obama administration has freed schools in more than half the nation from central provisions of the No Child Left Behind education law, raising the question of whether the decade-old federal program has been essentially nullified. The 10-year-old federal No Child Left Behind law requires all students to achieve proficient math and reading scores by 2014, a goal that many educators say is impossible. Other waiver applications are still pending in 10 states and the District of Columbia. While No Child Left Behind has been praised for forcing schools to become more accountable for the education of poor and minority children, it has been derided for what some regard as an obsessive focus on test results, which has led to some notorious cheating scandals. The Education Department began granting the waivers in February in exchange for promises from states to improve how they prepare and evaluate students. Washington's waiver application emphasized its embrace of new national education standards, the state's new teacher and principal evaluations, and its efforts to take a broader look at student achievement beyond reading and math by also testing for writing and science. It requires the state education office to annually identify priority schools, which are the 5 percent lowest-achieving of Title I schools; focus schools, which are the lowest 10 percent of Title I schools; and reward schools, the highest performing Title I schools or those making the most progress in a given year.
– It's a milestone for No Child Left Behind, but not in a good way: More than half of the nation is now exempt. The White House issued waivers today to the 25th and 26th states, and another 10 are in the works, reports the New York Times. The exemptions come ahead of a 2014 deadline requiring all students to be proficient in math and reading. They also come close to making the hallmark of George W. Bush's education reform "essentially nullified," says the Times. Education chief Arne Duncan says the waivers are necessary while the administration works with Congress to rewrite the law, which critics say is too focused on test results, notes AP. "A strong, bipartisan reauthorization of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act remains the best path forward in education reform, but as 26 states have now demonstrated, our kids can't wait any longer for Congress to act," said Duncan in a statement. A school superintendent in Maryland says the waivers don't do much to get away from standardized tests, however. “I have a lot of respect for Arne Duncan, but it’s just sort of moving around the chairs on the Titanic.”