By John Fensterwald

Eight California school districts collectively will receive the first district waiver from penalties under the No Child Left Behind law, U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan announced Tuesday.

Duncan praised the districts’ “creative, thoughtful, innovative proposal.” He said that 1 million students will benefit from the districts’ “rigorous expectations” and that other states will learn from the collaborative strategies that the districts are pledging to carry out. “Frankly, working directly with districts wasn’t an easy decision,” Duncan said. “We’re not taking this up because it was simple, but because it was the right thing to do.”

via Eight California districts receive historic NCLB waiver | EdSource Today.