States Revive Efforts to Coax NCLB Changes

Some Legislators Seek Waivers Under Law

Even before U.S. Secretary of Education Margaret Spellings was confirmed in her job on Inauguration Day, a few states began testing her pledge, made during Senate hearings, to work with them in carrying out the No Child Left Behind Act in a “sensible and workable” way.

In a letter to Ms. Spellings dated Jan. 14, Betty J. Sternberg, Connecticut’s commissioner of education, asked for greater flexibility in six areas of the law—including the ability to continue testing only in grades 4, 6, 8, and 10, instead of annually in grades 3-8 and once in high school as the federal law requires.

“I was really only reacting to her comments and taking them at face value,” Ms. Sternberg said in an interview last week. “I wanted to let her know that I’m very interested in continuing to work toward the goals of NCLB and, given her comments, hope that she might be open to considering some of the requests that we have made heretofore...