Conn. One of Eight States Given No Child Left Behind Waiver

Joined by U.S. Education Secretary Arne Duncan and a host of Connecticut's political elite, Gov. Dannel P. Malloy announced Tuesday that Connecticut was one of eight states to receive a waiver excusing it from some of the provisions of the 2001 No Child Left Behind Act. 

Malloy and Duncan hailed the state's recent passage of as helping it to achieve the waiver, and Duncan went as far as to say that the education reform legislation made Connecticut "one of the leading states in this round of plans." 

“Connecticut’s plan to adopt college and career-ready standards, elevate and support teachers, and focus resources in order to close the achievement gap will include hundreds more schools and thousands more children who were invisible under NCLB.  Connecticut’s hard work and collaboration show that state and local leaders are ready to lead the way in education reform," Duncan said. 

Malloy said the waiver grants Connecticut public schools greater flexibility to spend Federal Title 1 dollars, avoids a situation where about half of the state's public schools would be deemed as "failing" under the NCLB act and creates a better system to accurately measure student achievement.