Washington state has become the first to lose its federal waiver for requirements of the No ChildLeft Behind education law.

State education officials say they received an email on Thursday saying they were losing the waiver because the state did not meet the U.S. Department of Education's requirement to include statewide student test results in teacher evaluations.

Most states have been given a waiver from some elements of the federal education law as a stopgap until Congress acts to reauthorize the law. The state has been operating under a conditional waiver for the past two school years.

Gov. Jay Inslee and Superintendent of Public Instruction Randy Dorn both called the announcement disappointing, but not unexpected.

“Today’s news from Secretary Duncan is disappointing but not unexpected. The loss of this waiver could have been avoided if the state legislature had acted last session. The waiver provided districts flexibility to use nearly $40 million in federal funds to support struggling students. Loss of that funding means those districts now face potential impacts that could include laying off some of Washington’s tremendous teachers or cutting back on programs that serve at-risk students. I hope districts will work to mitigate impacts on students. I know that despite this setback Washington teachers remain fully committed to serving our students.”

Washington expects to lose control over about $40 million in federal school dollars

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