As Dropout Nation has pointed out ad nauseam since the administration unveiled the No Child waiver gambit two years ago, the plan to let states to focus on just the worst five percent of
schools (along with another 10 percent or more of
schools with wide achievement gaps) effectively allowed
districts not under watch (including
suburban districts whose failures in serving poor and minority kids was exposed by No Child)
off the hook for serving up mediocre instruction and curricula.