Kansas Seeks No Child Left Behind Waiver

The Education Department says more than half of all states have applied by this week’s new deadline to be freed from the strenuous requirements of the Bush-era No Child Left Behind law.

A request from the Kansas Department of Education seeking a waiver from the provisions of the federal No Child Left Behind law has been formally received in Washington. Twenty-seven states and the District of Columbia submitted an application for the latest round.

The Obama administration is allowing states that agree to improve how they prepare and evaluate students to get a waiver around the law.

The waiver would excuse states from the requirement that 100 percent of students pass math and reading tests by 2014, instead allowing states to set their own targets.

Eleven states, including Colorado and Oklahoma, have already received federal waivers.

Applications will be reviewed in the coming weeks and a decision will be announced later this spring.