And that makes 35.
The list of states that have won approval for a waiver under No Child Left Behind grew by one today with the addition of Idaho. (That list includes the District of Columbia.)
This leaves Illinois’ request as the one that’s languished in NCLB waiver purgatory the longest. (I’m not counting Iowa, whose request was basically rejected, or California, which is going the not-likely-to-succeed, do-it-yourself route.) Seven other states applied more recently, and still await word.
There’s no official word on what Idaho did to satisfy the U.S. Department of Education, but you can read the state’s original application here.
The six states that have not yet requested a waiver include: Montana, Nebraska, Pennsylvania, Texas, Vermont (request withdrawn), and Wyoming. Texas, however, has indicated that it will probably apply for a waiver, although like California, without agreeing to any strings.