WASHINGTON (AP) ? President Barack Obama wants to energize school improvement at the local level by giving states the flexibility to opt out of provisions of the federal No Child Left Behind law. The Bush-era education initiative has grown increasingly unpopular as more schools risk being labeled failures.
Under the plan Obama was to outline Friday, states would be allowed to ask the Education Department to be exempted from some of the law’s requirements if they meet certain conditions. That includes enacting standards to prepare students for college and careers and setting evaluation standards for teachers and principals.
The administration says it is acting because Congress has been slow to rewrite the law.
Prominent Republican lawmakers say the president’s plan will undermine the policy making authority of Congress.