Obama administration to offer No Child Left Behind waivers

The Obama administration will provide qualifying states a waiver from No Child Left Behind after Congressional inaction on reforming the program, the Department of Education said on Monday.

States that seek relief from certain provisions of NCLB must demonstrate commitment to education reform, Barnes said, adding that the President's process is "not a pass on accountability."

The administration proposes to reform NCLB by a more flexible and targeted accountability system based on measuring annual student growth on college- and career-ready standards, focusing on data and quality of teachers and principles.