• Secretary of Education Arne Duncan announced that Arizona, the District of Columbia, Kansas, Michigan, Mississippi, Oregon and South Carolina will join the 26 other states that have already had vital provisions from the No Child Left Behind law waived because of unrealistic standards.
• The law, enacted by President George W. Bush in 2002, was intended to raise education expectations by having all students proficient in reading and math by 2014, but it has received heavy criticism for its dependence on standardized test scores.
• States seeking waivers from the law must sanction federal standards to prove students’ college preparedness, allocating need-based financial aid, and evaluating school administrations.

From the article:

WASHINGTON— The Obama administration has approved seven more requests for waivers from the No Child Left Behind law, recognizing the continued inability of states to live up to lofty standards that have caused thousands of schools to be marked as failing. …