Obama grants 10 states waivers on federal education law

 　　WASHINGTON, Feb. 9 (Xinhua) -- U.S. President Barack Obama announced Thursday that 10 states have been exempted¹ from some burdensome mandates² of the federal education law known as No Child Left Behind (NCLB), giving them flexibility³ to implement⁴ their own reforms.

　　"Today, I am pleased to announce that we are giving 10 states .. . the green light to continue making the reforms that are best for them," Obama said in a White House announcement attended by state education officials, teachers, civil rights, and business leaders.

　　"If you're willing to set higher, more honest standards than the ones that were set by No Child Left Behind, then we're going to give you the flexibility to meet those standards," he said.

　　The 10 states approved for flexibility are Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Indiana, Kentucky, Massachusetts, Minnesota, New Jersey⁵, Oklahoma, and Tennessee. In exchange for this flexibility, these states have agreed to raise standards, improve accountability, and undertake essential reforms to improve teacher effectiveness.

　　The NCLB, which is five years overdue⁶ for a rewrite, is driving the wrong behaviors, from teaching to the test to federally determined⁷, one-size-fits-all interventions⁸, the president said.

　　In addition to the 10 states that have been granted waivers, New Mexico, the one state that applied⁹ but wasn't granted a waiver, is working with the administration to improve its proposal, according to the White House. Twenty-eight other states along with D.C. and Puerto Rico have indicated their intent to seek waivers.

　　In March 2010, Obama sent to Congress his blueprint¹⁰ for approval of a reform on the Bush-era education law but Congress has so far failed to act on it.

　　The NCLB has been under increasing criticism as opponents said it drives down standards, weakens accountability, causes narrowing of the curriculum and labels too many schools as failing.

　　"The goals of No Child Left Behind were the right ones. Standards and accountability -- those are the right goals," Obama said. "We've got to do it in a way that doesn't force teachers to teach to the test, or encourage schools to lower their standards to avoid being labeled as failures."

1 exempted   

使免除[豁免]( exempt的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• His bad eyesight exempted him from military service. 他因视力不好而免服兵役。
• Her illness exempted her from the examination. 她因病而免试。

2 mandates   

托管（mandate的第三人称单数形式）

参考例句：

• Individual mandates would require all people to purchase health insurance. 个人托管要求所有人都要购买健康保险。
• While I agree with those benefits, I'm not a supporter of mandates. 我同意上述好处，我不是授权软件的支持者。

3 flexibility   

n.柔韧性，弹性，（光的）折射性，灵活性

参考例句：

• Her great strength lies in her flexibility.她的优势在于她灵活变通。
• The flexibility of a man's muscles will lessen as he becomes old.人老了肌肉的柔韧性将降低。

4 implement   

n.(pl.)工具，器具；vt.实行，实施，执行

参考例句：

• Don't undertake a project unless you can implement it.不要承担一项计划，除非你能完成这项计划。
• The best implement for digging a garden is a spade.在花园里挖土的最好工具是铁锹。

5 jersey   

n.运动衫

参考例句：

• He wears a cotton jersey when he plays football.他穿运动衫踢足球。
• They were dressed alike in blue jersey and knickers.他们穿着一致，都是蓝色的运动衫和灯笼短裤。

6 overdue   

adj.过期的，到期未付的；早该有的，迟到的

参考例句：

• The plane is overdue and has been delayed by the bad weather.飞机晚点了，被坏天气耽搁了。
• The landlady is angry because the rent is overdue.女房东生气了，因为房租过期未付。

7 determined   

adj.坚定的；有决心的

参考例句：

• I have determined on going to Tibet after graduation.我已决定毕业后去西藏。
• He determined to view the rooms behind the office.他决定查看一下办公室后面的房间。

8 interventions   

n.介入，干涉，干预( intervention的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Economic analysis of government interventions deserves detailed discussion. 政府对经济的干预应该给予充分的论述。 来自辞典例句
• The judge's frequent interventions made a mockery of justice. 法官的屡屡干预是对正义的践踏。 来自互联网

9 applied   

adj.应用的；v.应用，适用

参考例句：

• She plans to take a course in applied linguistics.她打算学习应用语言学课程。
• This cream is best applied to the face at night.这种乳霜最好晚上擦脸用。

10 blueprint   

n.蓝图，设计图，计划；vt.制成蓝图，计划

参考例句：

• All the machine parts on a blueprint must answer each other.设计图上所有的机器部件都应互相配合。
• The documents contain a blueprint for a nuclear device.文件内附有一张核装置的设计蓝图。