Six States to Design Own Plans for Fixing Schools

This from the AP by way of Education Week:

Ohio and five other states are getting the OK to write their own prescriptions for ailing schools under the Bush administration's signature education law.

It's a softening from how No Child Left Behind currently works — with schools having to take certain steps at specific times for missing math and reading testing goals. Critics have complained that the approach is too rigid and treats schools the same regardless of whether they miss the mark by a little or a lot.

The other states getting more freedom under a pilot program are Florida, Georgia, Indiana, Illinois and Maryland. Education Secretary Margaret Spellings made the announcement during a speech Tuesday in Austin, Texas....