Ga. gets waiver from federal education law, local official weighs in

ATLANTA - Georgia has officially received a waiver from the federal No Child Left Behind law.

President Barack Obama announced Thursday that Georgia is one of 10 states to get relief from the law put into place by his predecessor, President George W. Bush. U.S. Education Department officials said Georgia's waiver was granted conditionally, meaning it still needs to be tweaked.

The state's plan includes rating schools with a five-star system rather than as passing or failing to indicate whether a school is making gains. The state also will use more subjects than just math and reading and more than one standardized test to calculate which schools pass muster.

Will Schofield is the superintendent of the Hall County School System.

"What I understand is we're going to still have an accountability this year. It's just going to be immediatly radically different than what we've seen in the past, with pass-fail, needs improvement, etc."

Schofield said the move is a positive step forward for Georgia schools.

"State Superintendent John Barge and his staff have been making the argument on our behalf, that one test given once a year, average scores, does not a college or career-ready youngster make."

The changes take effect this year.

(Copyright 2012 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)