by
Annie Enchakattu
| Jul 18, 2012
On July 6, 2012, the Obama administration approved Washington and Wisconsin for flexibility from key provisions of No Child Left Behind (NCLB)—now called the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA)—in exchange for state-developed plans that are required to include adoption of college and career ready standards, teacher and principal evaluation and nine other key components. This brings the number of states that have been approved for waivers from NCLB to 26, or more than half the country.
President Obama announced in September of 2011 that the Obama Administration would grant waivers from NCLB to qualified states. The first requests for waivers were granted in February of 2012.
The 26 states that have been approved for waivers from NCLB include: Arkansas, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Indiana, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maryland, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Missouri, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Oklahoma, Rhode Island, South Dakota, Tennessee, Utah, Virginia, Washington and Wisconsin.
The 10 other states (plus Washington, D.C.) with outstanding requests for waivers include: Arizona, Idaho, Illinois, Iowa, Kansas, Michigan, Mississippi, Nevada, Oregon, and South Carolina.
The 14 states (plus Puerto Rico) that have not yet requested a waiver through this process include: Alabama, Alaska, California, Hawaii, Maine, Montana, Nebraska, New Hampshire, North Dakota, Pennsylvania, Texas, Vermont (request withdrawn), West Virginia, and Wyoming.
States have until September 6, 2012, to apply for the next round of waivers.
Visit the US Department of Education website’s “ESEA Flexibility” section for more information.