Feds extend Minnesota's education law waiver again

The U.S. Department of Education has granted Minnesota a four-year waiver from the federal No Child Left Behind law.

The waiver enables state education officials to continue their alternative system of accountability for Minnesota schools.

In the meantime, education officials are pushing Congress to reform the federal law, which they say punishes failing schools instead of helping them.

The four-year window gives Minnesota the stability to plan, said state Education Commissioner Brenda Cassellius.

"We just wanted to get our waiver through so we could have a dependable system for schools to move forward with because of the stagnation happening in Congress," she said.

Cassellius has set a goal of a 90 percent high school graduation rate by 2020. She also wants to cut in half the achievement gap between whites and students of color by 2017. The waiver lasts through the 2018-2019 school year.

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