Republican Sen. George Allen and several fellow Virginians in the House are seeking to amend the No Child Left Behind Act to free states like Virginia from core accountability measures in the federal law.
The bill’s sponsors say the effort is designed to increase flexibility for states that have their own strong school accountability systems. The House and Senate bills would establish guidelines under which states could get waivers from the law’s stringent requirements to ensure schools make adequate yearly progress.
Both Republican and Democratic officials in Virginia have long objected to some of the federal demands.
“[A]spects of the federal No Child Left Behind law are confusing parents and undermining the progress of our high academic standards and accountability in Virginia,” Sen. Warner said in an April 26 press release.
The lead House sponsor is Rep. Robert W. Goodlatte, R-Va. His bill has five co-sponsors, all Virginians.
