Dive Summary: 

• In response to widespread complaints by teachers and parents of No Child Left Behind policies, a waiver exempting schools from some of the law's provisions has been granted to 33 states.  
• Ex-state legislator Kristen Admunson argues that the waivers will do nothing to bridge the performance gap between different ethnic groups. 
• Admunson points out under the new waiver, African-American and Latino groups will have lower performance standards placed on them than Whites and Asians, causing the disparity in meeting education targets to remain unchanged. 

From the article: 

Recently, Virginia became one of 33 states (plus the District of Columbia) to be granted a waiver from some of the parts of NCLB that have caused schools the worst heartburn. Of particular concern was the goal that all students achieve grade-level proficiency by 2014. In granting the waiver, U.S. Education Secretary Arne Duncan said that it would allow states like Virginia "to develop locally tailored solutions to meet their unique educational challenges." He also called on states to ensure that all students were prepared for college and careers. ...