Approved Pennsylvania ESEA Flexibility Waiver Request

February 28, 2013
As of August 20, 2013, 41 states and the District of Columbia had been approved for waivers giving them flexibility to implement standardized student- testing systems to replace the grading systems written into the 2000 No Child Left Behind (NCLB) law (technically known as the Elementary and Secondary Education Act, or ESEA). Pennsylvania, the most recent state to be granted a waiver, was notified that its application was approved on August 20, 2013. Federal education law has been due for Congressional reauthorization since 2007. Because Congress has not yet reauthorized ESEA, in September 2011 President Obama announced . . .