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Wednesday, February 29, 2012

Calif. Seeks its Own Version of an NCLB Waiver - Politics K-12 - Education Week

Calif. Seeks its Own Version of an NCLB Waiver - Politics K-12 - Education Week:

Calif. Seeks its Own Version of an NCLB Waiver

By Sean Cavanagh

California is continuing to hold out on pursuing a waiver from the No Child Left Behind Act, citing its objections to the Obama administration's requirements of states that want that flexibility.

Instead, the state is considering asking federal officials for its own brand of flexibility from the law—without having to meet the adminstration's standards.

Twenty-six states plus the District of Columbia have met the U.S. Department of Education's second deadline of this week for submitting waiver requests, but California was not one of them. Eleven states have already been granted waivers by the department.

Rather than follow that route, California's department of education is recommending that the state ask federal officials for a more direct form of relief from NCLB—without having to go through the official waiver application process and without meeting the requirements attache